TMCnet News
EMC Doubles Its R&D In China To $1 Billion(CommwebNews.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Building on its existing operations in China, storage company EMC said this week that it will increase its research and development spending to $1 billion through 2012. The investment amounts to double the $500 million commitment EMC made in 2006 as the firm's chief executive Joseph Tucci, in Beijing for the announcement, outlined a series of new ventures to be funded by the storage company. Officially opening its new R&D center in Beijing on Wednesday, EMC noted that the facility will complement its existing R&D operation in Shanghai. Located in an area in Beijing known as China's Silicon Valley, more than 200 engineers will work in the new R&D center and focus on EMC's core technologies including information storage, virtualization, security, resource management and content management and archiving. Another highlight of the center is its designation as EMC Research China; it is the first EMC research lab to be located outside of the United States. In addition to the R&D facilities, EMC said it expects to grow its partner community and strengthen its sales and service operations in the Asian country. "China's contribution, both in terms of a market and as a culture of innovation, has been spectacular," said Tucci at the dedication ceremony in Beijing. "We have demonstrated our success by gaining customer confidence in the local marketplace. The additional investment reiterates our deep commitment to this rapidly growing economy." EMC observed that it entered the Chinese market in 1996. The company has 4,700 employees in its Asia Pacific and Japan region. It expects to have 1,000 employees in China by the end of the year. EMC said its employees are working closely with local communities in China in the area of education and empowerment and the firm said it continues to build future talent and has alliances with key universities in China through its EMC Academy Program. This includes curriculum building, research, and funding programs. Also traveling to China this week to announce an investment expansion was Cisco Systems' chief executive John Chambers. Cisco and EMC work closely together on various projects particularly data centers. Cisco also made a $150 million investment in EMC's VMware unit earlier this year, before VMware's stock rocketed after its IPO. Copyright 2007 CMP Media LLC |