Intel chief sees infotech turnaround in second half

Our Corporate Bureau

Bangalore, Aug 3: Intel Corporation president and CEO Craig Barret has said that fortunes of the IT industry is likely to witness a turnaround from the second half of the current fiscal.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Barret said there are already signs of revival despite the slowdown. However, Mr Barrot made it clear that revival may not match the high growth witnessed during the boom years in the 1990s.

On the opportunities and threats faced by the Indian IT sector following the slowdown in the US economy, Mr Barret said Indian companies may get more and more outsourcing opportunities from the US companies.

The threat emanates in the event of the current slowdown turning into a recession, he added.

Mr Barret said global players in IT sector continue to invest in technology despite the slowdown in the US, Europe and Japan.
“There is no recession in technology and companies investing in technology is going to reap the benefits during the time of a turnaround”, he said.

“The Indian government and industry are to expand their Internet infrastructure aggressively to gain competitive advantages in the region. The sooner every company adopts doing business over the Internet, the faster the acceleration of India’s growth opportunities,” he added.

Mr Barret said the low penetration of Internet in the country is not going to be a hurdle, as the growth will be driven by the B2B activities over the Net. “The Internet continues to be a key engine for growth for India”, he said, adding that industries that innovate by increasing their digital capacity and embracing the concept of e-business are building foundation for productivity and competitive gains.

Mr Barret refused to divulge the investment plans of Intel in India. “It is not our policy to give the details of our investment budgets”, he said. However, he said Intel is committed to expand its operations in the country through its investment arm Intel Capital, development
centre in Bangalore and product development.

Intel Capital has investments in more than 30 Indian companies and we hope to increase this by investing in companies working in the area of developing Internet infrastructure in the country, Mr Barret said.