Intel, Tencent to set up joint research center

BEIJING, CHINA: Chipmaker Intel recently announced that it has entered in to a strategic deal with China-based Internet firm Tencent to set up a joint research center.

As per media report the new center would focus on developing technologies and services for tablet-style computers and other mobile devices in the Chinese market.

Sixty engineers have already started work in a joint innovation centre in Shanghai and the headcount is to rise to 200 over time and Intel will contribute expertise on hardware and operating systems, says a Financial Times report.

Doug Davis, head of Intel’s netbook and tablet group, said he was particularly bullish about the Chinese market as more than 40 per cent of Chinese consumers had aspirations to buy a tablet computer, a ratio far higher than even in developed markets, the report added.

Tencent operates QQ, the world’s largest instant messaging tool, with more than 600m active accounts.

On Monday Intel also introduced a processor for tablet computers to stake out territory in the exploding mobile market dominated by Britain's ARM Holdings.