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Intel says chip making will continue to be its money-spinner

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CIOL Bureau
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MANILA: Intel Corp of the United States said on Tuesday that its core business of computer chip making will remain its main revenue earner in the coming years despite rapid growth in its networking, communications and services businesses.

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"Five years down the road I think our core business today, which is the

micro-processor chips, will still be the biggest part of our business,"

Intel Corp president and chief executive officer Craig Barrett told a news

conference in Manila.

"Our core business (chip making) is growing by 10 per cent in terms of

revenue on an annual basis. These other businesses are growing at 50 per cent or

more," he said, but added the chip business accounted for more than half of

the revenues.

Intel, the world's largest computer chip maker, posted revenues of $29.4

billion in 1999, up from $26.3 billion in 1998.

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Barrett said Intel was working with other companies to develop firewall

technologies to secure computers from virus attacks similar to the so-called

"I LOVE YOU" virus, which originated from the Philippines, and its

strains that caused millions of computers to crash around the world.

"We will lobby with other people that all countries ought to have strong

laws to counter cyber terrorism or cyber crimes," he said.

Barrett, who is on a regional tour, said he could not put a number to the

cost Intel would incur on replacing circuit boards with the defective chipsets

reported early this month. He said the number of Intel 820 chipsets that have

the defective memory translator hub was "fractional".

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"The number of defective devices is very small and even then we don't

know how many of them would be replaced," he said.

Intel last week revised its first quarter earnings per share by a penny and

lowered its sales by $28 million after disclosing the initial financial hit it

would take for replacing circuit boards with the defective chipset.

Barrett also said Intel, which has operations in the Philippines, was not

worried over a recent spate of bombings in the country's capital Manila and

renewed rebellion by Moslem separatists in the south that has hit sentiment in

the local markets.

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"We have been operating in the Philippines for 27 years and I have been

coming here for about 24 years. Today's situation pales in comparison to the

volatile situations that the Philippines has been through, so don't even worry

about it," he said.

Intel shares closed unchanged on Monday at $118 3/8.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.

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