Intel plans huge investment in China
http://www.eetasia.com/ARTP_8800657011_480200.HTM
Posted:05 Dec 2011
Intel Capital, Intel Corp.’s venture-capital division, has announced that it plans to increase investment in China next year. According to the company, this is in line with its emphasis on technologies related to mobile devices and ultra-thin portable PCs.
Arvind Sodhani, president of Intel Capital, indicated that the company made 10 investments in China this year totaling more than $70 million—out of a combined $500 million globally—and expects that to grow next year.
The company’s interests are “multifold,” he said, with emphasis on cloud computing, software, hand-held devices, security and other products and services that fuel the growing ecosystem around mobile devices.
The executive’s comments come amid heightened concerns that the Chinese government may tighten regulations around foreign investment and that high valuations of Chinese technology companies signal a possible bubble.
Sodhani explained that the company is monitoring these issues. In terms of the government’s attitude toward foreign investment, Intel Capital is “the largest foreign direct investor in China and we feel very welcome.
Valuations are always a concern, and from time to time valuations go out of whack,” but there are investment opportunities in China that are a good value for the risk, he continued.
Intel Capital sees more technology innovation coming from Asia as more consumers and enterprises in the region are adopting new technologies, the executive stated.
The majority of new investments announced this year by Intel Capital were in Asia, including three in Greater China.
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