Japan, S. Korea weigh design work in India
June 6, 2006 (K.C. Krishnadas)
BANGALORE, India — With European and U.S. companies having established captive or outsourced design centers in India, their Japanese and South Korean counterparts are looking to increase the Indian element in their chip designs.
Those two Asian countries, especially Japan, have been more cautious about either setting up design centers here or outsourcing design to Indian companies on any large scale. But trends indicate that more companies in Japan and South Korea are studying India for chip design, according to the India Semiconductor Association (ISA).
The ISA took five Indian companies to Taipei, Taiwan, last month to meet with executives from Taiwanese fabs and electronics companies. A group of high-level executives from Taiwanese companies are visiting top design companies in southern Indian cities to push the initiative, said ISA president Poornima Shenoy. Besides Bangalore, they will visit companies in Chennai and Hyderabad, followed by another ISA-led visit to Taipei later this year.
"We are seeing how we can work with the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association to channel (design) business between companies in Taiwan and India," Shenoy said. Taiwan's Institute for Information Industry (III) has set up an office in Chennai and is researching the pros and cons of having design done out of India.
United Manufacturing Corp. has said it is looking at doing design in India, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. may like to set up a center here, according to industry sources. Taiwan's Via Technologies has a center in India, and Mediatek has a presence, while Japan's Sanyo and Toshiba have their own design centers in India.
"Japanese firms have a limited presence in design in India, and they are feeling the pinch (of not being here). It may be too late for them to set up big captive design centers in India," an EDA industry executive said.
Shenoy said that Japanese market analysts had visited India on behalf of top Japanese electronics companies and are publishing a report for internal use before making a decision on whether to come to India. The ISA has also had inquiries relating to doing chip design in India from top Japanese companies interested in doing high-end design there. Taiwanese firms have expressed interest in outsourcing or having joint ventures for design in India for applications in automobiles and communications devices and equipment, Shenoy added.
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