Intel will set up the global headquarters
of its channel product group in China, the first United
States microprocessor maker to do so.
As the domestic market has come to play
an important role in the global computer and telecommunications
industry, the move is to be expected, a top company executive
said Tuesday in Beijing.
"China is fundamental to Intel's future,"
said Paul Otellini, Intel President and CEO, on his first
trip to China, after he took over the posts from Craig Barrett
in May.
The country is the world's second largest
market for computers and the largest in terms of mobile
phone users.
Otellini said "wow" to describe
his company's growth from zero to US$5 billion in the past
20 years.
He added China has also become one of the
most important computer manufacturing bases in the world,
so the establishment of the channel product group headquarters
in China will allow better execution of Intel's platform
strategy and develop more solutions to meet the demands
of computer makers.
Intel said it had not decided which city
the headquarters will be located in, and did not announced
when the move would be made.
The US giant also took a major step Tuesday in tapping the
potential of the so-called digital home with its partnership
with media giant Shanghai Media Group (SMG) in Beijing.
Intel and SMG will develop solutions for
the production of media content optimized for broadband
delivery for three different platforms - televisions, computers
and mobile phones.
"We do not only want to be a content
provider, but a service provider, so the technologies from
Intel is very helpful to us," said Li Ruigang, president
of SMG.
He said the co-operation will first be between
SMG's subsidiary SMG Broadband Broadcasting, the first firm
to get a license to conduct Internet protocol TV services
on both the Internet and TV sets.
He said that in the future his company will
work with Intel on new technologies such as WiMAX, a wireless
broadband technology promoted by the US chip maker.
Intel also announced on Monday it would
establish a venture capital fund of US$200 million exclusively
for the Chinese market.That compares very well to Intel's
total venture capital investment of US$130 million last
year.
The investment targets are Internet infrastructure
companies, such as wireless broadband and consumer electronics,
two areas which are also Intel's strategic focuses, according
to Candol Cheung, managing director of Intel Capital for
the Asia Pacific region.
Intel Capital, the US giant's venture capital
arm, has invested in more than 50 Chinese companies since
1998.
Source: China Daily
