WOW....Intel pounds the Net drum
Plus other briefs from Deutsche Bank conference
By Jeffry Bartash, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 6:26 PM ET Nov 3, 1999
NewsWatch
BALTIMORE (CBS.MW) -- Intel has long dominated the market for
silicon chips to run personal computers. Now the semiconductor giant wants
to become a dominant player in the Internet.
Assistant Treasurer Doug Lusk said Intel wants to be the building-block
supplier to the burgeoning global Internet economy.
To that end, the chipmaker is aiming to sell more
products to makers of TV set-top boxes, which are
eventually expected to become the central devices in
homes to control a family's access to the Internet. In
addition, Intel (INTC: news, msgs) recently opened
Web-hosting centers to help businesses manage their
sites.
Citing recent high-profile e-broker outages at
Charles Schwab and others, Lusk asserted that no
company helps business manage their sites from
start to finish.
“No one provides a complete solution,” Lusk told
investors at the 20th annual Deutsche Banc Alex.
Brown technology conference in Baltimore.
“Someone has to manage this from top to bottom.
We think we can do it.”
Already, however, the Internet is providing to be a
boon for Intel. Demand for Internet access is
pushing PC sales to their highest level since 1995,
Lusk said. Intel “is seeing higher growth than we
expected.”
Looking ahead, Lusk said the so-called Year 2000 computer problem is
unlikely to affect Intel. He also said that technical advances will allow Intel
to reduce the costs of its low-end Celeron chip for inexpensive computers
by 20 percent and the cost of its upscale Pentium 3 processor by 50
percent. Shares of Intel closed up 2 1/4 at 79 3/4.
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