US chip giant Intel Corp yesterday announced the opening of an innovation center in Taiwan to develop networking communication technologies in collaboration with local government, academics and communication equipment makers.
The innovation center is the first of its kind that Intel has established in the Asia-Pacific region, said Craig Barrett, Intel's chief executive officer, at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Barrett said that the center is expected to help transform the nation's information technology industry from manufacturing-oriented to innovation-based.
"Taiwan has a unique opportunity to build upon its strengths in design and manufacturing to play a key role in the creation of future technologies," Barrett said.
He said the convergence of computing and communication industries gives a great opportunity for innovation and creation in technology.
In March, Intel's launch of the Centrino chip package, allowing mobile PCs to have built-in wireless Internet access, demonstrated how the two industries can converge.
Intel, by establishing the center, hopes to work with the local IT industry to create a platform for converging technologies in the areas of personal mobile computing, enterprise networking, broadband access and digital home appliances, Barrett said.
The Taipei center plans to employee 25 scientists in its initial stage, 20 of whom have been recruited, said director of the innovation center Lin Long-song (林榮松).
He added that the company expects to hire 50 or 60 more for future work at the center.
Lin refused to specify actual capital investment for the center, but he did say that the company has engaged several research projects with Taiwanese communication equipment makers.
"Three to five local manufacturers [who collaborate with Intel in technology development] are expected to announce new products during this year's Computex next month," Lin said.
In addition, the center is working with academic institutes including National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hsu University and National Chiao Tung University on research projects.
Local IT companies are upbeat about the center's opening, saying it would upgrade Taiwanese companies' competitiveness.
"In collaboration with the Intel center in Taiwan, we can speed up the time it takes to get products to market," said Du Yi-min (
He explained that when companies can resolve problems and get certified locally, their efficiency will be increased.
According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the country is expected to ship out some 13 million pieces of wireless LAN equipment this year, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the global market.
Meanwhile, Intel raised its third-quarter sales-growth forecast to as much as 20 percent as microprocessor demand increased early this month. The company said in a statement that revenue will rise to as much as US$7.8 billion, from US$6.5 billion from a year earlier.
But Barrett said it's too early to say whether a personal-computer recovery is under way.
``Our forecast increase isn't necessarily a sign that we are seeing a total turnaround of the IT industry,'' Barrett said.
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