Intel innovates technology to pursue rebound
(XIAO ZOU)
10/26/2001
Intel has overcome sluggishness caused by the current global economic slowdown and a re-bound is likely, said Jason Chen, Intel's vice-president and General Manager for Asia Pacific.Taiwan-based manager Chen made the assumption on the basis of Intel's third quarter revenue, which is up 3 per cent over the past quarter. "The increase, which is the first since the economic slowdown beginning last October, signals the recuperation of the industry," Chen said. Uncertainties lie ahead, such as how long the influence of the terrorist attacks on the US will last, and how the anthrax scare develops. "All these make the future hard to call," Chen said. The corporation's 32-year history has prepared Intel for the experience of how to cope with recessions. "Facing an economic slowdown, people should work together to bring the recovery back faster through investing and creating new technology and products that will stimulate the market, instead of simply waiting," Chen said. This year, Intel's R&D and capital investment is around $11.5 billion, higher than that in 2000, although its third quarter revenue has seen a 25 per cent decrease compared with last year. "The development speed of the economy could slow during the present period, but the speed for developing technology can never be reduced," Chen said. "Only in this way can we make Intel an even stronger corporation after we get out of this all-time low." When talking about the development of China's IT industry, Chen held up his thumb in approval. "I remember eight years ago when I came to Beijing to take charge of Intel's sales in the Chinese mainland," he said. "PC users here could only choose from 386 chips, but now in China's computer shops you can easily find all the world's advancing IT products." China has the world's third largest PC consumption market, and may surpass Japan, becoming the second largest, very soon. China is among the world's top three countries in terms of available IT engineers. Every year around 80,000 young graduates join the IT industry. Moreover, the Chinese Government gives firm support to the IT industry. "All the above three factors have fuelled the rapid development of the local IT industry," Chen said. The corporation has just added a $302 million investment in Shanghai. "We aim to set up a first-rate high-tech manufacturing base in the city," Chen said. "China's upcoming accession to the WTO is good news to Intel, and to the world IT sector as a whole," Chen said. Intel must use a Chinese firm with "foreign trade rights" to import and distribute the products in China, as direct sales are forbidden.
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