It’s over a decade since Qualcomm hired its first engineer in Ireland. Earlier this month, the company announced it is investing €125m in operations in Cork, which will see the number of employees here pass 1,000.
Qualcomm was founded in 1985 in California, and specialises in wireless technology and advanced semiconductors. The company creates system-on-chips, which are central to the creation of the advanced systems which power devices from smartphones and laptops to wearables and automotive systems.
The Cork operations, headquartered at Penrose Quay, serves as a strategic R&D hub, supporting Qualcomm’s global roadmap. Qualcomm Technologies has had a presence in Cork since 2013, and has forged relationships with UCC, MTU, and Tyndall.
The recent investment announced in Cork will fund research projects at its Irish headquarters in Cork, as Qualcomm aims to diversify beyond mobile technology into areas such as PC, virtual reality, automotive, and data centres. Over 300 roles are being added. At the announcement, Qualcomm Ireland vice president of engineering, Paul Kelleher, said the company is “not just building technology; we’re shaping the future, right here in Cork”.
Nomination for Cork Chamber’s International Company of the Year award adds to the firm’s local connection.
“We’re honoured to be named a finalist for Cork Chamber’s International Company of the Year,” said Mr Kelleher. “This recognition reflects the strong collaborative ecosystem and talented people that make Cork such a vibrant hub for R&D innovation. We’re proud to contribute to the region’s growth and global impact.”
Most of Qualcomm’s management team are graduates from Cork educational institutions, while four members of Qualcomm Ireland’s leadership team are adjunct professors at UCC. Beyond Cork, Mr Kelleher was named adjunct professor at the University of Limerick as the company commits to academia across the wider Munster area. This week, Mr Kelleher has appointed vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland for 2026.
Qualcomm Ireland is also an active participant in the Cork Docklands steering committee. Qualcomm said the company “proudly consider ourselves a part of the culture of Cork, supporting local businesses and service providers, as well as playing our part in the transformation of the north docklands”.
Qualcomm Ireland has organised and supported joint conferences and workshops in Cork in areas such as security, coding, machine learning, and AI.
“The Cork operation is one of our most successful growth stories — a model of innovation, collaboration, and excellence,” the company stated.
“The achievements of our team have set a benchmark that Qualcomm now seeks to replicate across other new sites globally.”
The Cork site has directly contributed to 19 patents granted, and 43 patent applications at the US Patent and Trademark Office. A key target for the Cork site in the coming years is to continue to grow as a technical centre of excellence for Qualcomm globally, and to become the company’s largest R&D site in Europe.
Qualcomm is planning to grow the workforce in Cork by at least 50% over the next three years.
The work done on the ground by the staff at Merck in Cork has been cast onto the global stage in recent years. The Cork site is a world leader in producing membrane products that form part of the rapid antigen kits that test for numerous uses, including covid.
Merck’s Carrigtwohill site is the pharmaceutical giant’s global “membrane centre of excellence”, producing advanced filtration and membrane technologies essential to vaccine production and the manufacture of critical medicines.
Merck operates across life science, healthcare, and electronics, and has been active in Ireland since 1977. A little over a decade later, the company began operations in Cork. Today, more than 1,000 people are employed in Cork across the Carrigtwohill Membrane Centre of Excellence and their €150m climate-neutral facility in Blarney, which opened in September.
The Carrigtwohill site is doubling its footprint while the Blarney site will produce filtration devices for vaccines, therapeutics, and emerging modalities such as cell/gene therapies. Eoin Weldon, Merck’s head of communication for EMEA, said the investments are a “vote of confidence” in Cork as a primary manufacturing site.
In the past three years, Merck has committed €440m across operations in Carrigtwohill and Blarney. The expansion is supporting over 200 new jobs by 2028 and reinforces the company’s in-region-for-region model, which ensures European customers benefit from shorter lead times, secure supply, and greater resilience.
The Blarney site is Merck’s first manufacturing facility designed for full climate-neutral operations, powered entirely by renewable electricity, and marks a milestone in the company’s ambition to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. The 3,000sq m clean-room facility will produce advanced filtration products used in the manufacturing of therapies, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, cell, and gene therapies.
Merck employs 62,000 people globally and had net sales of €5.3bn in the third quarter of 2025.
Merck says that customer satisfaction remains central to its success measured through direct feedback, supplier and partner surveys, and robust product performance and service metrics. The company says this data-driven approach allows it to respond quickly to customer needs, improve product offerings, and build long-term trust with companies “who rely on our products to deliver life-changing therapies”.
To be nominated as a finalist in the Cork Company of the Year Awards is a source of great satisfaction for the company, said Merck head of Cork operations Karen O’Connor.
“To be shortlisted among the top international companies based in Cork is a huge honour for Merck, and something we take great pride in — not only in Cork, but globally also,” Ms O’Connor said.
“The nomination is a vindication of the hard work and dedication of the colleagues we have at our existing site in Carrigtwohill and also our recently opened new facility in Blarney.
“I’d like to thank all Merck colleagues in Cork for their contribution to the success of the company since we began operations here in 1988.”
It’s now 37 years since Sanmina established a base in North Cork. Originally manufacturing consumer electronics, the focus of operations in Fermoy has evolved in the past 20 years, and Sanmina Ireland has now become a global leader in the manufacture of medical devices.
The site at Rathealy Road is now the Fortune 500 company’s largest medical facility in Europe. As the company looks to the future in Fermoy, selection as a finalist in the prestigious Cork Chamber awards is welcome news.
Sanmina vice president of operations and plant manager, Tim Hyde, said: “Sanmina Fermoy is delighted to be selected as a finalist for this award. It is recognition of the entire Fermoy team, whose commitment, knowledge, and flexibility are key to the continued success of our customers and our company.”
Globally, Sanmina Corporation is a leading integrated manufacturing solutions provider serving the global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) market. It provides end-to-end manufacturing solutions in areas including industrial, medical, defence and aerospace, automotive, communications networks, and cloud infrastructure markets.
On Monday, the company reported financial results for Q1 ended December 27, 2025, with revenues of $3.19bn (€2.68bn). In its outlook for Q2 ending March 28, the company is predicting revenue between $3.1bn to $3.4bn. Sanmina Corporation chief executive and chair Jure Sola said fiscal 2026 is “off to a great start”.
In Fermoy, Sanmina has been producing medical devices for over 20 years, offering integrated manufacturing solutions primarily for complex medical devices. The facility is US FDA-registered and MDSAP (Medical Device Single Audit Program)/ISO 13485 certified for the manufacture of printed circuit board assemblies, subassemblies, and complete medical devices. Sanmina specialises in manufacturing automation and provides services from new product introduction, prototyping, and process validation to complex volume manufacturing, testing, shipping, and repair.
In November 2025, Taoiseach Micheál Martin was on hand as Sanmina announced an expansion of the Cork facility. The firm is recruiting up to 150 employees in engineering, quality, manufacturing, and supply chain roles.
The expanded site includes advanced manufacturing capabilities, and its first new automation line is already installed. The expansion also includes a new ISO8 clean room and several high-volume automation lines dedicated to producing wearable medical devices.
Sanmina says the success of the Fermoy site has been driven by exceptional talent and a culture of innovation and quality.
At November’s expansion announcement, IDA Ireland executive director Mary Buckley noted Sanmina has been providing “significant employment in Fermoy for many decades. The expansion future-proofs the site and demonstrates the company’s continued commitment to the South-West region.”
