Apple Inc on Monday said that it would open an engineering hub in North Carolina, marking its first major campus on the US’ east coast as part of an increased commitment to investing domestically.
The Cupertino, California-based technology giant said that it would spend US$1 billion in the area around Raleigh Durham and Chapel Hill, known as the Research Triangle and home to other big companies that have a significant presence there, including IBM Corp, Cisco Systems Inc and GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
Apple said that it would create 3,000 jobs at the new site in machine learning, artificial intelligence and software engineering.
Photo: Reuters
Apple’s announcement is part of the iPhone maker’s planned 20 percent increase in US investments over the next five years, allocating US$430 billion in direct spending on US-based suppliers, data center investments, capital expenditures in the US and other projects, including dozens of Apple TV+ productions, and research and development on technologies such as custom silicon and 5G.
The effort would result in 20,000 new jobs, including in San Diego; Los Angeles; Boulder, Colorado; and Boston by 2026, the company said in a statement.
“At this moment of recovery and rebuilding, Apple is doubling down on our commitment to US innovation and manufacturing with a generational investment reaching communities across all 50 states,” Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said.
Over the past three years, Apple’s investments have outpaced its original five-year goal of US$350 billion set in 2018, the company said.
However, the firm has also been growing. Its shares have gained about 200 percent since the previous investment plan was announced in January 2018, and the company is now worth more than US$2 trillion.
Apple said that it is also the US’ biggest taxpayer, having paid US$45 billion in domestic corporate income taxes in the past five years.
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