Centrino mobile technology sales in the mainland are holding steady, even as the deadline to comply with China's wireless local area network (WLAN) encryption standard draws near, a senior Intel official says.
Intel vice-president and general manager of Asia-Pacific operations John Antone said demand for the company's Centrino system, which is at the core of most wireless internet-capable notebook computers, had not been affected by China's move to enforce its WLAN authentication and privacy infrastructure (Wapi) standard.
Sales of non-Wapi wireless broadband equipment will not be allowed in China past the government's deadline on June 1.
Intel told mainland officials last month it would not comply because it could not meet that deadline, and the standard, which was officially implemented last December, was incompatible with existing international security protocols.
'We are hoping this issue will be resolved before the deadline,' Mr Antone said, confirming continued discussions between Intel and mainland officials.
He said the issue did not negatively affect Intel's first-quarter Asia-Pacific results. Intel reported first-quarter revenues from the region, excluding Japan, amounted to US$3.28 billion, up from $2.64 billion a year ago. Intel's total global sales in the quarter to March reached $8.09 billion, well above last year's $6.75 billion.
Annie Chung, principal analyst for computer hardware and systems at research firm Gartner in Hong Kong, said China was a significant consumer of Intel's Centrino technology and Intel was keen to swiftly work out its issue with the Wapi standard.