India R&D lab a vital link: Intel

By siliconindia staff writer   |   Monday, 10 May 2004, 19:30 IST
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SAN JOSE: The Indian research and development (R&D) lab of Intel is a vital link in the network of R&D labs that chipmaker Intel has created across the globe, Intel’s senior vice president and chief technology officer, Pat Gelsinger said. Its importance can be gauged by the broad set of R&D work it carries out and its contribution to most vital businesses of the company such as being involved in developing the next generation of Xeon processors, which are used in servers, he said. Xeon like the Pentium processors are big revenue earners for Intel. Gelsinger told ET that culturally relevant research is a top priority at Intel’s Bangalore-based R&D lab. “The best cell phone in China may not be the best phone for India. Similarly due to its cultural uniqueness, India needs PCs that are different from those being currently used. In India PCs are shut off after use and covered with fabric or plastic, so do we need to make PCs that are medically sealed? We are working on such issues,” he said. Intel does not just make PCs. It provides the building block for PC makers, while its investing arm, Intel Capital, invests in companies that meet its objectives. Anthropologists from Intel recently covered several cities in urban Asia to learn how computers were used.

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