INTERVIEW-Intel sees strong growth in Europe
By Marcel Michelson
CANNES, France, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Intel Corp (INTC - news) expects strong market growth in Europe in personal computers to compensate for softness in Asia and believes the ''old continent'' could be the fastest growing market in 1998.
Ron Whittier, a senior vice-president and general manager of Intel's content group, said that Europe would see an enormous growth in Internet advertisement and electronic commerce.
''We at Intel have said that we are comfortable with analysts' predictions of growth of 17 percent in the world personal computer market this year (1998),'' he told Reuters.
''I think Europe will be above that rate and I think it will take up the slack caused by Asia and it could be the fastest growing market,'' Whittier said in an interview.
''Market researchers are seeing a market for electronic commerce of $200 to $250 billion for the year 2001. That is ten times as much as now,'' he said, adding that the market in Europe alone could be worth $30 billion in 2001.
Whittier said that the market was rather uniform in all countries and there were no clear leaders in electronic commerce because the technology is available to small as well as big companies.
''I think Europe is making a spurt to take the opportunity that e-commerce offers. I am very impressed with the developments here,'' Whittier said.
Shopping over the Internet is only just taking off in Europe but a number of projects were on display at the MILIA multimedia trade fair here, including one concerning fashion shopping.
A client can enter a three-dimensional virtual store, select clothes, fit them on a model with the users' dimensions and have an electronic chat with a fashion consultant.
It is even possible to visit the store with friends who do not have to sit around the same screen -- be it a personal computer or a television set linked to the net -- but could be connected from anywhere in the world.
Whittier said that more and more businesses were convinced that there was at the moment sufficient security for electronic commerce. Depending on the amount of transactions involved, various technologies are available from encoding, to virtual private networks on secure lines and smart cards.
Whittier said that Intel was ready to invest in the development of security applications but would not commit itself to finding a standard. It is ready to work with application firms or financial institutions.
He said the various technologies would have to prove themselves in the market place. In the longer term, he expected the security features to become part of the platform -- the inner parts of the computer such as the motherboard with its processor, from Intel or another.
For electronic shopping to work, people have to come to the website and that can be done by advertising. Internet advertising has long been limited to simple ''banners'' on a site, which allowed a viewer to click and go to the advertised site.
Whittier said that recent research showed that if some special features were added to a web ad, like moving images, the total effectiveness of the ad went up by 45 percent.
If the advertisement has a bigger size, the effectiveness goes up by 44 percent. The moment the ad becomes interactive, the effectiveness rises by 71 percent.
''Internet advertising on a worldwide basis went up by 300 percent in 1997 compared to 1996, it is now a billion dollar industry,'' he said.
The interest for Intel in these developments is clear -- the more computers sold, be it for the office, the home, the living room or the kitchen, the more Intel processors and motherboards are needed.
Regards Jim
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