‘Tablet’ has been Intel’s biggest market in 2015
View(s):Information Technology (IT) will play a major role in Sri Lanka’s export sector by bringing in much needed revenue to the country by value addition while at the same time exporting skills, said Indika de Zoysa, country manager for Intel, speaking at an Intel event in Colombo recently.
He said IT will be the tool for the education sector with the Asia Pacific and Japan regions spearheading the growth of the industry in 2015 with integrated computing networks so as to enrich the lives of people. Intel has embarked on a project to increase computer literacy in the country from 55 per cent to 75 per cent.
He said 7000 schools in rural areas in the country have 7000 personal computers and 40,000 teachers have been trained in IT over the past nine years. It has become compulsory for media organisations to use personal computers.
Mr. de Zoysa said the biggest market was the tablet market where Intel has surpassed manufacturing 40 million tablets in 2014, a tremendous increase compared to 2013. “Our target is to reach 50 million tablets in the coming years. The tablet market is our biggest segment and we have been successful in that venture.”
He said, “We see new mobile and computing devices flooding the market with new innovations that will continue beyond 2015 to usher integration. Asia Pacific and Japan will lead the way as the US and Europe has slowed down a bit on the consumption side. Think of a person with an implanted heart monitor or a car with sensors that can say if the engine is overheating or an athlete with a chip that monitors his body’s reaction to the stress of training and competing”.
He said smart devices in 2015 will make it easier to tailor people’s individual needs with new innovations such as wearables, home appliances and 3 D imaging. “Businesses and consumers will see robotics and development in 3D printing technology.” However he cautioned that new multiple devices will not be beneficial in some rural areas where the broadband network hasn’t penetrated as yet.
Meanwhile measures have been taken by the state to erect common towers to enable networks to lower costs and for smooth functioning.
Asked whether Intel will set up a manufacturing plant in Sri Lanka to produce tablets, Mr. de Zoysa said there wasn’t a plan for, such a venture would cost US$70 billion and there are plants only in Israel and the US.