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Technology Stocks : Applied Materials No-Politics Thread (AMAT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (4584)	12/23/2002 8:17:36 AM
From: Proud_Infidel	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25522

China throws weight behind homegrown computer chip Monday December 23, 6:08 am ET BEIJING, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Chinese government officials and private firms joined hands on Monday to promote a homegrown computer chip in their push for a domestic information technology industry that is less reliant on foreign companies. Unveiled in September, the "Dragon" central processing unit boasts speeds between 200 and 260 megahertz, roughly equivalent to models global chip leader Intel Corp (NasdaqNM:INTC - News) first marketed between 1995 and 1997. The Chinese chip is likely to be used in applications requiring less speed than the fastest chips now available. Officials from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Ministry of Information Industry, electronics giant Haier Group, Linux developers Red Flag Software Co Ltd and server provider Dawning Corp Ltd all pledged support for the chip at a news conference. Li Guo Jie, director of the Institute of Computing Technology under CAS, said he expected the chip to meet the needs of a niche market despite its limitations. "People won't buy the chip just because it's home-made," he told a news conference. "It must be competitive and fit market needs." He said the chip would soon reside in personal computers, mobile phones and televisions, with a target production of one million units in 2003. The Chinese Academy of Sciences said about 10,000 chips had already been produced this year. Technology analysts have said the domestic CPU is supposed to reduce China's dependence on Intel and other chipmakers such as Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NYSE:AMD - News) for both financial and security reasons. China wants to install its own chips in sensitive military devices to retain better control, they say. (Reporting by Juliana Liu, editing by Sonali Desai; Reuters Messaging: juliana.liu.reuters.com@reuters.net; email: juliana.liu@reuters.com; +8610 6586-5566 x213)