Business News Americas | January 28, 2011 | Matthew Malinowski
The Latin America division of US chip manufacturer Intel (NYSE: INTC) plans to shuffle more budget toward innovation efforts this year, the company’s Latin America general director, Steve Long, told BNamericas without providing hard figures.
Intel has Latin American installations such as a factory in Costa Rica, and announced last year plans to invest US$177mn in a plant located in Guadalajara, Mexico.
“I think you’ll see us do a lot more on the innovation front,” Long said. “The Guadalajara lab investment was one that came through our research and development group. They are looking to get closer to other markets and to do similar things. We are investigating on that front.”
Software development will also garner a significant amount of attention, according to the executive.
“For Intel to be relevant across devices which are connected on an on-going basis, we have to make investments,” Long said. “That means investments in Latin America as well, because content and software is not a global thing. It’s local.”
The integration of solutions from US software security firm McAfee (NYSE: MFE) – which was acquired by Intel last year in a deal that just received the green light from European regulators – will play a central role in company strategy.
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