Apple unveils plan for $1bn campus in Texas

Apple unveiled plans on Thursday for a $1bn campus in Texas that will create jobs for the tech giant outside Silicon Valley, a move made without the fanfare of the recent Amazon headquarters bidding war.

The new campus for engineering, research, operations, finance, sales and customer support but not manufacturing

will be near the tech giant’s existing facility in Austin and will initially accommodate 5,000 new employees, with room to grow to 15,000.

As it stands, 6,200 people now work for Apple in the Texan capital, the largest cluster outside its headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Apple said in January it would invest about $30bn in the US over the next five years and create 20,000 jobs, using some of the profits repatriated at a tax rate lowered under a law passed by Congress in 2017.

The move comes amid intense pressure from President Donald Trump to move jobs, especially in manufacturing, to the US, with the White House imposing heavy tariffs to counter what he calls unfair trade practices.

Trump singled out Apple in September, calling for the company to bring iPhone manufacturing to the US.

“Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China but there is an easy solution,” Trump tweeted on September 8. “Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants now.”

Apple’s announcement does not concern manufacturing of its iPhone, which is assembled in China with components from various locations.

“Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs and opportunity to cities across the US and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“Talent, creativity and tomorrow’s breakthrough ideas aren’t limited by region or zip code, and, with this new expansion, we’re redoubling our commitment to cultivating the hi-tech sector and workforce nationwide,” he said.

Apple also said it plans to boost its employee base in regions across the US over the next three years. It will expand to more than 1,000 employees each at new sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, California, and add hundreds of jobs in Pittsburgh, New York, Boulder, Boston and Portland.

Apple said it plans to invest $10bn in US data centres over the next five years, including $4.5bn in 2018 and 2019.

Apple did not indicate whether it had received any tax incentives for its new facilities.

However, the iPhone maker steered clear of the public bidding war employed by tech rival Amazon, which unveiled two new locations in November for major investments in its selection of a second headquarters, or “HQ2”, a process denounced by critics as a Hunger Games contest.

Amazon selected Long Island City in New York and Crystal City, across the Potomac River from Washington DC, for its $5bn investment said to create 50,000 jobs.

WITH THIS NEW EXPANSION, WE’RE REDOUBLING OUR COMMITMENT TO CULTIVATING THE HI-TECH SECTOR AND WORKFORCE