Intel to invest $41 million in India

Chip giant Intel plans to beef up its design and software development centers in Bangalore, India, spending $41 million and scaling up the staff numbers there.

An Intel representative said the company will also triple its number of employees in India, from 1,100 at present to 3,000 by 2005.

Intel India is the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaking giant's largest nonmanufacturing site outside the United States.

Paul Otellini, president of Intel, told The Associated Press that the new investments in India would mostly go toward chip designing and outsourcing software work.

The Times of India reported that he said the North American share of Intel's revenue was falling, so the chipmaker had to invest in development centers in regions with the largest potential: India, China, Russia, Eastern Europe and South America.

PC manufacturing in Taiwan and China will continue to make Asia-Pacific a key sales area for Intel for some time, added Otellini, who is on a tour of India.

The Intel chief dismissed suggestions that the desktop PC will become obsolete as notebooks and handheld computers become more popular.

Customers in developing countries will still buy desktops because they are more affordable, he said, adding that in businesses such as banks, which require computers to be under close supervision, desktops will still rule.

CNETAsia's staff reported from Singapore.