Intel Israel Sees Sales Growth in 2002
dailynews.yahoo.com
By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Intel Israel, a unit of computer giant Intel Corp (Nasdaq:INTC - news), said on Tuesday it expects growth in sales in 2002, as demand for microchips rises despite a global economic slowdown.
``We see accelerated growth in 2002,'' Amir Elstein, co-chief executive officer of the Israel branch of Intel Electronics Ltd, told Reuters. ``We are seeing it in OEM (original equipment manufacturers) orders for 2002. The only question at the moment is networking infrastructure.''
Elstein, general manager of Intel's Jerusalem plant, said sales remained solid throughout 2001.
Intel Israel exported $2 billion of products to worldwide markets in 2000 but Elstein declined to say how much it exported in 2001. ``It was a very good year,'' he said without elaborating.
Intel in Jerusalem is Intel's largest plant for manufacturing micro-controllers for peripherals. It also makes high-end automotive computer elements, such as those that control anti-lock braking systems.
Other plants around the country make the Pentium 4 and other personal computer chips, as well as chips for mobile phones and other items.
In 2003, Elstein said, Intel Israel will launch its new mobile phone chip and products to work with 2.5 and third generation (3G) cellular networks.
As result, he said Intel Israel is seeking to raise its employment to 5,400 people from a current 5,200 employees. Most of the hires will be computer and design engineers.
``We continue to invest in new technologies,'' Elstein said after the company opened its latest ``Computer Clubhouse'' in the neighborhood of Neve Yaacov on the edge of Jerusalem.
Elstein also said Intel Israel will continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on community development, such as computer clubhouses, which allow children from underprivileged areas to have access to new computer technology.
The clubhouse in Neve Yaacov, a community of mostly ultra-Orthodox and immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia that is regarded as Jerusalem's poorest neighborhood, is Intel's second such clubhouse it opened this year in Israel. It plans a third in the port city of Haifa next month.
wbmw |
