Semiconductor giant Intel aims to intensify its collaboration with the mainland government and domestic industries to foster innovation and create new business for the company and its 14 million developers around the world.
Intel China chairman Sean Maloney stressed the importance of that commitment yesterday, as he kicked off this year's two-day Intel Developer Forum in Beijing. The forum is the company's biggest annual technical conference in Asia.
'The impact of major global trends, such as the rapidly growing middle class and explosive growth of connected, mobile internet and cloud computing traffic, is playing out tenfold in China,' Maloney said. Intel was collaborating with up to 10 local and international brands on the mainland, the global centre for electronics manufacturing, to introduce media tablets that run its chips and Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system later this year, he added.
Mainland computer market leader Lenovo and ZTE, China's second-biggest telecommunications equipment manufacturer, are already set to release new Intel-based smartphones later this summer.
Lenovo and ZTE currently manufacture media tablets, which run non-Intel processors and use Google's Android operating system, to compete with Apple's popular iPad.
Maloney said Intel is sharpening its focus on the mainland because it was the world's largest market for personal computers and mobile phones. It is also the leading market for cars, which are being made with more semiconductors.
Research firm Gartner estimates semiconductor consumption on the mainland will reach US$146.3 billion this year.
