2022 Israel Semiconductor Landscape

By Gonzalo Martínez de Azagra, Noa Shamay, Ben Gilbert, and Jaime Deleito.

The recent glut in semiconductors has put the sector in the world´s spotlight. The global shortage highlights the importance of increased investment within the industry from early-stage disruptive technologies to manufacturing capacity. In 2020, Intel announced plans to invest $95 billion in Europe’s semiconductor industry over the next decade. We believe Israel will also play a major part in the development of the semiconductor industry during the next decade.

There is a rich history behind the semiconductor industry in Israel, beginning in the 1970s, when Intel established its first development center in the country. In the 1980s, Intel chose Jerusalem as the location for their first chip manufacturing center outside of the US. Today, Intel employs around 14,000 people in Israel and is considered one of the country’s pillars for technological innovation in addition to the elite units of the IDF. Following Intel´s lead, Qualcomm and Cisco have already established development centers as well. Other giant tech leaders like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft have also shown interest in developing chips in the country. Google is building a chip factory in the country and Facebook has plans to follow close behind. According to 2020 Semico’s Research Corporation study, Israel is second only behind the US in number of semiconductor startups.

Below is the Israeli semiconductor landscape, click here to view the map in high resolution