EMC Corp, a data storage firm, will invest US$500 million in China in the next five years, including establishing its first China-based research and development center in Shanghai, to expand its business nationwide, the US-based firm said yesterday.

"We are deeply committed to China for the long term. We plan to more than double our current investment in China so that we can more fully tap into the country's tremendous pool of talented engineers," Joe Tucci, EMC's chairman, president and chief executive, said in an e-mail statement.

EMC, which provides storage equipment and related management and security software, has invested US$150 million in China since its entry in 1996.

Expected to open next month, EMC's Shanghai-based center will provide support and development of EMC's products aimed at China and other Asian markets. The center is expected to employ about 100 engineers by end of the year and grow to 500 by the end of 2008.

"The large investment shows the company's decision to localize the rapidly growing Chinese data storage market that is fueled by finance and telecom firms," said Li Chong, an analyst at Analysys International, a Beijing-based IT consulting firm.

The booming credit card and mobile phone sectors have ignited demand for data storage and related management and security software, industry insiders said.

The size of China's storage equipment market hits 2 billion yuan (US$250 million) every quarter, according to Li, who declined to reveal the detailed growth rate.

EMC is the No. 1 storage software vendor in China, with 39 percent of the country's storage software revenue in 2005, according to International Data Corp, a US-based IT consulting firm.

In China, EMC ranked No. 2 in market share in the storage solution sector (including software and hardware), in the first quarter of this year following Hewlett Packard. IBM was the No. 3 player, said Li, who did not give details of market share.

(Shanghai Daily June 24, 2006)