Intel President And CEO Craig Barrett Highlights Role Of Technology Investment During Visit To Latin America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico, Aug. 10, 1998 – Dr. Craig R. Barrett, Intel Corporation's president and chief executive officer, will outline his vision for Latin America's PC industry during a five-day, five-country tour which starts today.

During his visit, Dr. Barrett will meet with PC manufacturers, system integrators, computer resellers and government officials to highlight the technologies that will enable Latin American companies to transcend traditional national boundaries and compete more effectively in a global marketplace. In his effort to promote faster growth of Latin America's PC technology, he will visit Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico.

At industry seminars in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, Dr. Barrett will highlight the critical role technology has in building economic momentum. "Real economic growth is based on sustainable improvements in productivity. These improvements come from doing business in new ways. To be successful, companies need to continuously reinvent themselves, build new products and provide new services to their customers. IT has a crucial role in aiding this," Dr. Barrett said.

Dr. Barrett will outline some of the opportunities emerging on the Internet, such as electronic business and commerce, which savvy local companies could pursue to grow their business.

"We are moving rapidly towards one billion connected computers -- this doesn't just represent an on-line community, it represents the formation of a ‘virtual' continent. This seventh continent, as it were, has no time zones and no borders. It is a place where business can be transacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with simply a PC and Internet connection," Dr. Barrett said. "It provides businesses both large and small with instant access to vendors, customers, manufacturers and consumer information anywhere in the world.

"Connected computers are changing the way we live, the way we do business and the way we think about computing. Investment in technology is not a luxury, but a competitive necessity."

Businesses throughout the world now have instant access to information allowing commercial transactions to be conducted seamlessly and immediately. The always-connected nature of electronic business gives rise to a new desktop computing environment known as "constant computing" -- the background processing of system and network tasks such as data encryption, virus protection and data compression. According to Barrett, this new environment of constant computing extends from the desktop to mobile computers.

During the visit, Barrett will also highlight Intel's efforts to drive the industry towards mobile connectivity standards which support digital wireless communications and peripheral access. Mobile computers are one of the fastest growing segments of the computer market in Latin America.

Intel Latin America operations, headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil, sells and markets microprocessors, platforms and communications products in all countries in Latin America through direct representatives or distributors.

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