Apple to invest 1.7bn euros in Ireland, Denmark data centres
US tech giant Apple said Monday it would invest 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in two data centres located in Ireland and Denmark, to boost online services in the European market.
"This significant new investment represents Apple's biggest project in Europe to date," said Apple CEO Tim Cook in a statement.
The two data centres, set to begin operations in 2017, will run entirely on renewable energy. They will support such online services iTunes, App Store, iMessage, Maps and Siri for European customers.
Apple currently employs 18,300 people across 19 European countries and has added over 2,000 jobs in the last 12 months alone, the company said.
"We're thrilled to be expanding our operations, creating hundreds of local jobs and introducing some of our most advanced green building designs yet," said Cook.
The facility in Ireland will be built in Athenry, County Galway, and the other in Viborg in Denmark's central Jutland.
This month Apple became the first company to be valued at over $700 billion after recently posting an unprecedented $18 billion in quarterly profits, thanks in large part to record sales of its iPhone.
© 2015 AFP
