The US-based firms anticipate that Linux freeware will become ever more popular in China.

The center is the third HP-Intel so-called global solution center. It is the first in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan and will allow independent software vendors, developers and customers to conduct proof-of-concept testing and pilot programs.

It will house more than 100 processors, with more than 400 gigabytes of memory and more than 7,000 gigabytes of storage disk space.

The center will mainly focus on developing Linux software for enterprises using Intel products, the companies said.

The establishment of the Shanghai center follows surging demand for lower costs on the part of customers stung by the worldwide tech slump, according to Paul Blinkhorn, HP Asia-Pacific vice-president in charge of industry-standard servers.

He said some customers are looking towards Linux as an enabling tool as they seek to cut costs. They are, therefore, considering Linux applications for their enterprise infrastructure, Blinkhorn said.

The two companies said that, as Intel-based architecture becomes viable for high-performance technical computing, customers are looking to adopt Linux in areas such as life sciences, energy exploration, media streaming and climate modeling.

According to a survey conducted by the market researcher International Data Corp, 81 percent of users in the Asia-Pacific said cost-effectiveness was the major reason behind their adoption of Linux solutions.

"China is the fastest-growing market for industry-standard servers and has the largest Linux-installed base in the Asia-Pacific," said Sun Cheng-yaw, president of HP (China).

(China Daily January 9, 2003)