　
The semiconductor design industry in India is estimated at US$620 million (figures from iSuppli), and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 25 percent during 2005 to 2010, reaching $1.72 billion by 2010, with both MNCs and Indian companies increasing operations.
　
India Supplement Articles
The India advantage
by Himanshu Singh, Executive Director, India and SAARC, Cadence Design Systems (India) Pte Ltd
India is at the front line in silicon designs
By S. Janakiraman, President and CEO, R&DS Services, MindTree Consulting, and Member of Executive Co
Three mega trends of India’s semiconductor design industry
by Dr. Biswadip Mitra, Managing Director, Texas Instruments (India) Pte Ltd and President, VLSI Soci Architecture innovation: Next step in India’s design roadmap
by Srini Rajam, Chairman and CEO, Ittiam Systems Pte Ltd Rethinking design: Mobile extreme convergence
by Ganesh Guruswamy, Country Manager and Director, Freescale Semiconductor India Pte Ltd |
Starting with TI setting up design operations in India in 1985, the design industry has gone a long way to spawn design services, semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) and EDA. The design services is the largest segment, contributing 75 percent to the total design revenue, followed by EDA at 15 percent, and SIP at 10 percent.
One of the biggest hindrances to design industry growth in the country has been the lack of any worthwhile semiconductor manufacturing in India. In spite of this limitation, the design industry grew remarkably well. With the first Indian fab planned to come up in Hyderabad, with technology transfer from AMD, this hindrance will be removed, and the design industry will be poised for more spectacular growth than before, with designers moving up the design value chain from testing and validation, which have been the forte of Indian designers, to complete product design.
India building a fab is welcome news, but I think the c ountry will continue to make a mark globally more as a fabless semiconductor
player than as a foundry player.
All the skills it has acquired give the country leverage for being a major fabless player. Global semiconductor designing is passing
through a transition. This transition is prompted by the need to reduce chip area and power losses while maximizing chip performance, with a focus on technology platforms such as SoC and FPGA that are being extensively used for creating better applications. India is acquiring expertise in all these areas. With offshore design on the rise, India can expect the transition to benefit the design industry in the country.
MNCs contribute over 70 percent of the semiconductor design revenue in India. With huge investments pouring into MNC design
activities, they will continue to dominate the Indian design scenario. TI, STMicro, Intel, Freescale, National Semiconductor, nVidia are all expanding rapidly. Indian companies too are expanding, and acquiring the competence to offer a broad portfolio of product design services ranging from concept definition to design and development of a fully-tested and certified unit ready for volume manufacturing.
