With an estimated population of 1.17 billion people (as of July 2009), India offers a great potential for the electronics design industry. For instance, mobile phone subscribers in the country reached 415.25 million in May 2009, up almost 50 percent compared with the previous year. But this only accounts for about 35 percent of the country’s population; meaning the opportunity for designers to create mobile phones catering to the Indian market—from high-end smart phones to the low-cost mobile phones—is still huge.
Currently, India’s semiconductor design industry encompasses all the aspects in the semiconductor lifecycle, from cutting edge VLSI designs down to the latest nodes, to an evolving manufacturing ecosystem. According to Poornima Shenoy, President of the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), India has evolved into a total design services destination for the domestic and global market, and that designs from the country are now being used to build applications for a wide range of products, from mobile phones to industrial equipment.
Surviving the slowdown
Like any other industry segments, India’s semiconductor industry also relies on the growth of the markets it caters to. With the global financial crisis, India likewise suffered the brunt of the slowdown, whose effect on industry segments such as consumer electronics, automotive, and industrial electronics, is expected to curb the growth of India’s semiconductor industry. The situation is expected to continue, but the crisis is expected to tail off late in 2009, with major industries recovering and starting on their growth paths next year.
India is one of the global giants that is slowly but steadily taking its place in the global setting. For over two decades, the country has evolved from being a player in front-end logic implementation to an end-to-end design service provider, according to Shenoy. And at this current economic scenario, the country has been weathering the challenges, with its industry finding strength in its domestic market.
