Date:27/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/02/27/stories/2007022704590400.htm

Back Design-to-delivery is NXP blueprint

V. Rishi Kumar
M. Ramesh

`Local thrust would need $40 m, 3 years to pay off'

System solutions for automotives, in car entertainment, HDTV chips, digital and entertainment devices, smart cards and radio frequency identification (RFID) would form core areas.

MR RAJEEV MEHTANI

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Hyderabad Feb. 26 The Indian semiconductor industry is passing through exciting times. With the Government clearing the policy framework today, the big missing link - manufacturing - is now being bridged.

NXP Semiconductor - a spin-off company of Philips, based in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, with 10 wafer fabs and eight test and assembly sites globally, and R&D facilities in India - is working on a `local design model' that fits just right into the Indian semiconductor story.

Chips from NXP, a 4.8 billion company, go into some 60 per cent of televisions and host of digital and entertainment devices. It commands over 5,400 patents and 9 per cent global market share. Its customers include Dell, Ericsson, Flextronics, FoxConn, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Siemens and Sony among others.

The Vice-President and Managing Director of NXP Semiconductor India, Mr Rajeev Mehtani, told Business Line that manufacturing and local design pull were required to grow the market and it would take about 3 years for the entire ecosystem to get fully geared up for the domestic market supported by local manufacturing.

Excerpts

What are your plans from India perspective?

NXP creates semiconductors, system solutions and software that delivers better sensory experience in mobile phones, personal media players, TVs, set-top boxes, identification applications, cars among others. Though these are generic solutions, a significant part of some of these devices is contributed by Indian researchers. We believe it is time to take up design-to-delivery work all from India to be successful locally. This will take about 2-3 years to transition and about $40 million to put in a product. Of over 7,000 engineers, some 800 are based in India and this number is poised to grow.

Are you not already doing this kind of work?

Yes. We handle a lot of development and innovation out of India, but it is mandated for other markets now. The designs we are talking now would be relevant to what the local market and industry requires. Such a transition would require working with local partners including manufacturers and custom develop what they require.

Which are the areas you see NXP focussing?

System solutions for automotives, in car entertainment, HDTV chips, digital and entertainment devices, smart cards and radio frequency identification (RFID) would form core areas. We do see a lot of local demand in these areas. For instance smart card ID applications for unique ID, passports and eGovernance applications are poised for growth.

Are you not looking at addressing the microprocessor industry?

No. We prefer to focus on our core competency in digital devices and leave microprocessors to the existing players. If we change, our core competency will get diluted.

How do you perceive some key semiconductor industry drivers?

We see more and more memory, multiprocessors being integrated. Our vision is that with 45 nanometre, the cell-phone will become a computing, multimedia (advanced graphics, high definition video, TV on mobile and a communication device. In the home segment, we see advanced digital products like 3D TV and high definition TV using the capability of the high level integration of 45 nanometre.

This will also be driven by high volume and value products that make economic sense for design and fabrication. These high density and low power system solutions would be required in mobile and personal computing and communications areas. The semiconductor industry is likely to see mainstream adoption of 45 nm by 2009.