UK: A new UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) report, ‘Business Opportunities in India for Technology Partnerships', maps the deep mine of business for Britain's technology sector in India generated by its increasingly sophisticated and growing middle class.
Launched to coincide with two Indian delegations visiting the UK, the report is aimed at British firms working with semiconductors, mobile communications and healthcare. It provides valuable information about the opportunities to combine the UK's frontier expertise with India's huge ICT industry to provide technological solutions for India and the world.
Minister for Trade, Investment and Business Lord Davies recently visited India, which increased investment into the UK by 44% in 2008, becoming the second largest source of investment after the US. Two-thirds of the Indians firms investing in the UK are in the software and technology fields.
Lord Davies said: "It's been over a decade since outsourcing was the buzzword. Now, innovative Indian and UK firms are working together at the top end of the industrial spectrum. India's talent, confidence, energy and entrepreneurial spirit must be seen to be believed."
‘Business Opportunities in India for Technology Partnerships' is part of UKTI's ICT strategy to help SMEs tap into partnership programmes and business opportunities through missions, networking and face-to-face meetings. Combining UK technology expertise with the scale of India's ICT industry should lead to powerful solutions for India and globally.
The first delegation to the UK is the Indian Semiconductor Association, from 29 September to 2 October, following a recent MoU signing in New Delhi to work with UKTI on developing India-UK technology partnerships. A major part of the programme will be UK-India seminars and networking events organised with Silicon South West, South West Regional Development Agency and East of England International.
NASSCOM is the second delegation, bringing 14 of its members covering a variety of areas, including e-learning and healthcare. Events organised in London with Intellect and Think London will help UK companies explore how to work with Indian firms and meet one-to-one with the NASSCOM delegates.
UKTI Chief Executive Sir Andrew Cahn said: "Despite the global difficulties India remains a vital growth economy with opportunities to match. With potential partnerships across technology sub-sectors, coupled with a severe skills shortage, now is the time for UK companies to take advantage of the technology boom."
To help British business enter the Indian market, UKTI's presence is stronger than ever with 90 staff on the ground in India alone. UKTI can help UK businesses looking to explore options in India, find business partners and provide grants to help firms attend tradeshows.
UK-India bilateral trade is worth £12.6 billion with double-digit growth in the last year. The UK's exports to India rose in 2008 to £5.9 billion while imports in 2008 to £6.2 billion.
To request a copy ‘Business Opportunities in India for Technology Partnerships' email ict@ukti.gsi.gov.uk
Showing posts with label ISA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ISA. Show all posts
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
ISA delegation to visit UK to further ties in semicon industry
BANGALORE, INDIA: The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) is organizing a business delegation visit to the UK from September 28 to October 2, 2009.
Led by Dr. Omkar Rai, Senior Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Department of Information and Technology, Ministry of Communication & IT, Government of India, the delegation includes hardware design and embedded software companies such as Wipro, TCS, Circuitsutra, CMC, KPITCummins, Smartplay Technologies, SiWays Microelectronics, United Telecom and Vayavya Labs.
The highlight of the delegation is the visit to the Cambridge Cluster and the conference on ‘Semiconductor SIG: Entrance Strategies: Resourcing Early Stage Innovation’.
The primary objective of this initiative is to create a common platform for chip design and embedded software companies in India, and to collaborate with the product and services segments in the UK market.
Recently, the ISA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Trade & investment to promote and develop the semiconductor industries in their respective domains through Global Value Chain GVC Partnerships. The UKTI’s GVC program is a unique initiative, which matches Indian businesses with the best UK technology firms to seize new business opportunities together.
The potential collaboration between the design companies in the two countries was gauged following a May 2008 study “Scope for collaboration between India and the UK in semiconductor driven industry 2008″. Released by the ISA, UKTI and Science & Innovation Network (SIN) established that UK and Indian semiconductor firms can collaborate to boost India’s IP creation and build next-generation products.
Led by Dr. Omkar Rai, Senior Director, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) Department of Information and Technology, Ministry of Communication & IT, Government of India, the delegation includes hardware design and embedded software companies such as Wipro, TCS, Circuitsutra, CMC, KPITCummins, Smartplay Technologies, SiWays Microelectronics, United Telecom and Vayavya Labs.
The highlight of the delegation is the visit to the Cambridge Cluster and the conference on ‘Semiconductor SIG: Entrance Strategies: Resourcing Early Stage Innovation’.
The primary objective of this initiative is to create a common platform for chip design and embedded software companies in India, and to collaborate with the product and services segments in the UK market.
Recently, the ISA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Trade & investment to promote and develop the semiconductor industries in their respective domains through Global Value Chain GVC Partnerships. The UKTI’s GVC program is a unique initiative, which matches Indian businesses with the best UK technology firms to seize new business opportunities together.
The potential collaboration between the design companies in the two countries was gauged following a May 2008 study “Scope for collaboration between India and the UK in semiconductor driven industry 2008″. Released by the ISA, UKTI and Science & Innovation Network (SIN) established that UK and Indian semiconductor firms can collaborate to boost India’s IP creation and build next-generation products.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
ISA inks MoU with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI)
BANGALORE, INDIA: The India Semiconductor Association (ISA), the premier trade body representing the Indian semiconductor, systems and solar photovoltaic industry, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) on Monday evening. The MoU was signed by BV Naidu, Chairman, ISA and Ms. Jane Owen, Director, UKTI in New Delhi.
The MoU focuses on developing and encouraging business ties and technology exchange between Indian and UK semiconductor industries through ‘Global Value Chain Partnerships’.
This significant agreement will mean that Indian and UK firms will be working together on agreed business opportunity areas, combining complementary know-how, technology, IP and other capabilities. This is also a concerted effort to jointly access, develop and deliver business solutions more effectively in this segment.
Jane Owen, Director, UK Trade and Investment, India said: "India and the UK play a significant part in the semiconductor industry, but together, I believe our two industries can do much more. The UK is a world leader in innovation and India has a massive electronic manufacturing sector, which drives the semiconductor industry. We look forward to a committed, fair and dependable partnership.”
Poornima Shenoy President said: “There is a tremendous synergy between chip design companies in the UK and India. An increasing high degree of complexity and innovation in chip design is taking place in both geographies. We are seeking the multiplier effect of companies that can focus on developing products for the domestic market.
In continuation of this association, a business delegation of embedded software and chip design companies from India would be going to the UK in September to discuss business opportunities.
The MoU focuses on developing and encouraging business ties and technology exchange between Indian and UK semiconductor industries through ‘Global Value Chain Partnerships’.
This significant agreement will mean that Indian and UK firms will be working together on agreed business opportunity areas, combining complementary know-how, technology, IP and other capabilities. This is also a concerted effort to jointly access, develop and deliver business solutions more effectively in this segment.
Jane Owen, Director, UK Trade and Investment, India said: "India and the UK play a significant part in the semiconductor industry, but together, I believe our two industries can do much more. The UK is a world leader in innovation and India has a massive electronic manufacturing sector, which drives the semiconductor industry. We look forward to a committed, fair and dependable partnership.”
Poornima Shenoy President said: “There is a tremendous synergy between chip design companies in the UK and India. An increasing high degree of complexity and innovation in chip design is taking place in both geographies. We are seeking the multiplier effect of companies that can focus on developing products for the domestic market.
In continuation of this association, a business delegation of embedded software and chip design companies from India would be going to the UK in September to discuss business opportunities.
Monday, August 31, 2009
ISA, UKTI sign MoU – to build complementary semicon capabilities
The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and the UKTI today signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the residence of Sir Richard Stagg, British High Commissioner in New Delhi, India
The MoU was signed between B.V. Naidu, chairman, ISA and Jane Owen, director UKTI.
In attendance were the board members of the ISA, senior executives from the Indian semiconductor industry and officials from the UKTI ICT sector.
Source: ISA
Sir Richard Stagg touched upon the long history and tradition of India-UK trade with rich social and cultural bonds, which has continued strongly with new generations of industries as the global economy has reshaped, in so small part through technology.
He said: “IT, and semiconductors, in particular, has played a key role in determining how international trade happens. It has already done much, and has the potential to do much more.
“The next phase as far as India and the UK are concerned will undoubtedly be about more collaborative efforts, building on deep strengths of each country’s semiconductor industry.”
Sir Stagg expressed his happiness that the ISA had chosen the UK as one of its three key country partners. He was especially pleased to see such enthusiastic commitment to the UKTI’s India ICT GVC (Global Value Chain) program.
The UKTI’s GVC program is a unique initiative, which matches Indian businesses with the best UK technology firms to seize new business opportunities together.
Jane Owen added, “Through the GVC program, we want to build on the complementary capabilities of our two industries to develop and implement new solutions around the big issues today and tomorrow.”
Poornima Shenoy, president, ISA, highlighted the fact that there can be areas, as well as geographic areas that can be of interest to India. The data being provided by the UKTI has also helped the Association to do enhance this aspect. “You (UKTI), have the opportunity to be the first mover,” she said.
She added: “The focus on the three verticals -- healthcare, energy and automotive from both sides is of relevance. This will bring about focus to interactions and help drive business by the respective verticals.”
B.V. Naidu, chairman, ISA, said that the UKTI is top priority for the ISA. He added: “We are really on a growth path. This year, the government of India has also set up a task force – for the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document. A lot of innovation and co-operation is being driven by the government of India. Companies in the UK and India can tap this opportunity in a major way.”
Full report follows later.
The MoU was signed between B.V. Naidu, chairman, ISA and Jane Owen, director UKTI.
In attendance were the board members of the ISA, senior executives from the Indian semiconductor industry and officials from the UKTI ICT sector.
Source: ISASir Richard Stagg touched upon the long history and tradition of India-UK trade with rich social and cultural bonds, which has continued strongly with new generations of industries as the global economy has reshaped, in so small part through technology.
He said: “IT, and semiconductors, in particular, has played a key role in determining how international trade happens. It has already done much, and has the potential to do much more.
“The next phase as far as India and the UK are concerned will undoubtedly be about more collaborative efforts, building on deep strengths of each country’s semiconductor industry.”
Sir Stagg expressed his happiness that the ISA had chosen the UK as one of its three key country partners. He was especially pleased to see such enthusiastic commitment to the UKTI’s India ICT GVC (Global Value Chain) program.
The UKTI’s GVC program is a unique initiative, which matches Indian businesses with the best UK technology firms to seize new business opportunities together.
Jane Owen added, “Through the GVC program, we want to build on the complementary capabilities of our two industries to develop and implement new solutions around the big issues today and tomorrow.”
Poornima Shenoy, president, ISA, highlighted the fact that there can be areas, as well as geographic areas that can be of interest to India. The data being provided by the UKTI has also helped the Association to do enhance this aspect. “You (UKTI), have the opportunity to be the first mover,” she said.
She added: “The focus on the three verticals -- healthcare, energy and automotive from both sides is of relevance. This will bring about focus to interactions and help drive business by the respective verticals.”
B.V. Naidu, chairman, ISA, said that the UKTI is top priority for the ISA. He added: “We are really on a growth path. This year, the government of India has also set up a task force – for the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document. A lot of innovation and co-operation is being driven by the government of India. Companies in the UK and India can tap this opportunity in a major way.”
Full report follows later.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
What needs to be done to boost chip designing activities in India?
Anil Gupta, Technovation 2010 and UK CIG Convener, India Semiconductor Association (ISA), also needs no introduction. As former managing director, ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd, he has been a prominent figure in several industry events. Here, he presents his views on what needs to be done for the Indian semiconductor industry.An interesting fact being brought up time and again within the industry is the requirement of a robust entrepreneurial spirit and the need for much more sources of funding for semiconductor product companies. Also, renewable energy, healthcare and security are some of the verticals where the Indian industry believes there is a lot of value to be added from the Indian market/need perspective.
Further, local products/systems design and development activity needs to be encouraged and kick-started in a big way in India, for the industry to really succeed big time!
What does Indian semicon need?
We have discussed several times in the past regarding what needs to be done with the Indian semicon industry. So, what really needs to be done, given the current slowdown? What can be done boost chip designing activities in India.
According to Anil Gupta: "The Indian story has always been a story of a lot of potential, but most often this potential is never realized.
"The software industry has done well and has gone far, perhaps, somewhat farther than the hardware or chip-design industry in India. However, you still don’t see a software product conceptualized, designed and developed in India that is worth mentioning.
"The Infosys’es and the I-Flex’es can do a phenomenal job of executing software projects for their customers, but they are all a far cry from the league of the top consulting firms that define the problem to be solved and the software solutions to be built.
"The Indian software industry is still plagued with the “revenue per head” model and is unable to grow beyond it. The Indian software companies clearly bring a significant value to their customers but this is NOT strategic value, it is merely an execution value.
"Compared with the software industry, the embedded systems industry in India is puny today. However, the opportunities are phenomenal because there is so much automation potential in so many verticals. However, once again, the lack of significant products/solutions development in India is a very big hindrance."
From a technical expertise perspective, there is a lot of engineering talent available, but the expertise is in general quite shallow. Even in the open source space like Linux, there aren’t many noteworthy contributions to date from the Indian engineering community.
Is the Indian fab story truly dead and buried?
In the past, we have extensively discussed whether the Indian fab story was dead and buried. Do you see any change in the current situation?
Well, it is dead for now! Gupta added: "Its day will come ONLY when the economics works out in its favour. Today, it doesn’t!"
He said: "It is interesting that many point out to the success of the solar fab investments. However, it should be noted that there is no solar wafer manufacturing activity worth mentioning. Only modules are being assembled in India as there seems to be a global glut in wafer production. Thus, wafer fabs in India is a pipe dream for now since the economics doesn’t work out."
Does India have entrepreneurs committed to product development and willing to take that risk? How can they be encouraged?
Gupta said that there are not that many who are willing to come out and take the risk, and the lack of funding is a very big handicap. The lack of prior successes that could be emulated is probably the biggest handicap.
In that case, what needs to be done in India to move up a higher level, beyond design and verification?
He said: "Clearly, a willingness to take risk, strong stomach to face failure, and strong will to learn from that failure to rise again from the ashes!"
Monday, July 6, 2009
ISA lauds positive signals of Union Budget
BANGALORE, INDIA: The India Semiconductor Association (ISA) today applauded the government’s step in extending the STPI tax holiday for technology export firms from March 2010 to March 2011. It would be of special relevance to SMEs.
Addressing the issues of transfer pricing and removal of fringe benefit tax were the other positive steps. These steps would attract talent to the knowledge sector and improve the competitiveness of India.
Weighted deduction of 150 percent on in-house R&D expenditure available to all manufacturing businesses will provide a boost to domestic R&D efforts and is a welcome move. Upgradation of polytechnics could create employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector with a pool of qualified and trained talent.
Basic customs duty of 5 percent applicable on import of set-top boxes is an incentive for domestic manufacturing. Reduction of custom duty on LCD panels and exemption of CVD on parts for mobile manufacturing will also help the manufacturing industry.
Commenting on the budget, ISA Chairman B.V. Naidu, Group CEO Vanpic Projects said, "These are positive developments and a signal that the government is committed to the growth of the sector and addressing its issues in this tough economic environment."
Addressing the issues of transfer pricing and removal of fringe benefit tax were the other positive steps. These steps would attract talent to the knowledge sector and improve the competitiveness of India.
Weighted deduction of 150 percent on in-house R&D expenditure available to all manufacturing businesses will provide a boost to domestic R&D efforts and is a welcome move. Upgradation of polytechnics could create employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector with a pool of qualified and trained talent.
Basic customs duty of 5 percent applicable on import of set-top boxes is an incentive for domestic manufacturing. Reduction of custom duty on LCD panels and exemption of CVD on parts for mobile manufacturing will also help the manufacturing industry.
Commenting on the budget, ISA Chairman B.V. Naidu, Group CEO Vanpic Projects said, "These are positive developments and a signal that the government is committed to the growth of the sector and addressing its issues in this tough economic environment."
Thursday, June 18, 2009
ISA's BV Naidu on India's way forward in semiconductors
B.V. Naidu, Group Chief Executive Officer, Genexx Enpower Corp. Pvt. Ltd, and currently Vice chairman Of Matrix Enport and Group CEO, VANPIC Projects, recently took over as the chairman of the India Semiconductor Association (ISA). He brings over 23 years of experience in developing the IT industry across India as part of the Department of Information Technology/Software Technology Parks of India (STPI).
Naidu's tenure at ISA's helm should turn out to be a very interesting one, given that India now has a new Union Government and Union Cabinet in place, and the latest Union Budget is likely to be announced soon. In this interview, Naidu also talks about the industry's expectations from the Central Government, on the fabs vs. fabless debate, and on the need for building a system for incubating Indian start-ups, respectively.
A very interesting development would be the ISA's proposal of the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document for the country. When this document is tabled, it should interest those countries, and companies, looking to invest in India -- as the document would lay out all of the clear, long term goals for the Indian semiconductor industry. Exciting times seem to be ahead for the Indian semiconductor industry. Excerpts:
Main goal for ISA
Naidu said that the ISA needs to get adopted to the changing dynamics in the industry with the increasing domestic market. It is necessary for India to enhance the product design capabilities -- which are made in India for India. In view of this, the ISA is enhancing its scope to cover the embedded software and systems companies.
"As a result of the new semiconductor policy, there has been spurt of the growth of the solar PV industry in the country. ISA has spearheaded the semicon policy, ISA is also covering the solar PV industry. Thereby, ISA is spreading its reach to cover the embedded software, electronic products as well as photovoltaic sectors," he said.
Top five points on ISA's agenda
BV Naidu: According to ISA, these should be:
i. ISA would work along with industry, academia and the Government, and formulate the strategy for the growth of fabulous design companies, product design companies, ecosystem companies and solar PV companies.
ii. ISA would also propose the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document for the country.
iii. ISA would enhance its activities focusing on increased product desired companies.
iv. ISA will put up a plan for working along with entrepreneurs, mentors, venture capitalists and academic institutions to enhance entrepreneurship and IP creation.
v. ISA will work with the Union Government to enhance the growth of the solar PV sector, its visibility and Government incentives to make this industry viable for growth in India.
Building semiconductor ecosystem in India
BV Naidu said that the ISA is taking several steps. These are:
ISA will strive to enhance the strategic value to its member companies -- semicon, systems and solar -- by creating balanced eco system around the its stakeholders -- industry, government and academia.
ISA should be accepted as a tier 1 industry body and think tank/advisory body for influencing policy for the Central and State governments. ISA would also encourage an entrepreneurship ecosystem focus in innovation and design. As for talent, ISA will aim for 100 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next five years.
With regard to what ISA would be doing in the coming year and in the current economic scenario, it would include the following:
For the government:
* Aim to remove anomalies in duty structure for semicon companies (Mo Fin/Com).
* Grow further fabless design companies in India (DIT).
* Roadmap for electronic manufacturing in India (NMCC).
* Take forward recommendations of SPV report (MNRE).
* Take forward the Semicon Policy implementation.
* Strengthen ties with state governments.
For SMEs/startups:
* Create platforms for mentoring & funding interaction with VCs.
* Make the ISA website a resource centre on the Indian semicon industry.
Market facing activities:
* Increase domestic market.
* Made in India for India.
* Increase competitiveness of product design, mfg & market reach.
* Position India as solar PV hub.
* Publish market sales data on a quarterly basis.
For talent:
* Aim for at least 20 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next 12 months.
Education and research perspectives
BV Naidu added that the participation of education and research would be as follows:
* Aim for 100 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next five years.
* Close working partnership between ISA and VSI to drive research agenda.
* Strong existing commitment to this agenda from VSI through corpus.
* Need each ISA member to sponsor at least one full time PhD student each year over the next five years.
* Commitment to be financial (Rs 25,000 pm), mentoring and test chips.
* Sponsorship amount will also cover international paper presentation, faculty support, kits, etc.
* ISA will work with DST to potentially match the aid from industry.
* VSI will work with universities and sponsoring companies to identify and mentor the scholars.
* All fundamental IP from the research will be available to the pool of sponsoring companies.
ISA's goal is to drive the fundamental pre-competitive semiconductor research in medical and energy in India.
Boosting semicon manufacturing
According to BV Naidu: India’s chip manufacturing has been restricted to captive centers for defense and aerospace to date. The announcement of the semiconductor policy 2007 is likely to see the opening of doors to global investors in both chip manufacturing and its ecosystem, and related hi-tech manufacturing.
The Government of India has announced a national semiconductor policy. It seeks to establish India as an attractive destination for global investors. The policy has financial subsidies and it is necessary that due diligence takes place before these benefits are sanctioned. The appointment of the Appraisal Committee and the setting up of guidelines to evaluate investments are the key for the long-term effectiveness of the policy and to build the sector.
The solar photovoltaic industry has received a real boost with the introduction of this policy and given India an opportunity to be a global player. It has also opened up opportunities for investments and employment.
Given the current economic climate, it would not be an uncommon request if the semicon policy is extended from 2010 to at least 2014/2015!
"ISA, particularly, will work along with the Government of India and various state governments to create manufacturing clusters around the country. The ISA also conducts the Excite exhibition to bring all the ecosystem players who could bring the manufacturing industry together," he added.
Fabs vs. fabless
Fabs vs. fabless has been an interesting debate. What should be the way forward for the Indian industry?
BV Naidu said: "Currently, the Indian semiconductor companies mainly focus on IC design services comprising VLSI design, board design and embedded software and are mostly in services, with a small number of product companies. There is also some amount of board level fabrication and testing activity.
"India has the potential to become a global design centre and a leader in product design, development, testing, fabrication and distribution. As a strategy, one should focus initially on product design, development, assembly and test, while leveraging wafer fabrication capability from the most competitive sources in the region."
Incubating start-ups
We haven't seen many start-ups in the recent past. How can the India industry go about trying to build a system for incubating Indian start-ups?
BV Naidu: It would be appropriate if the Government of India could provide seed and start-up capital for the new ventures and set up a focused venture fund of about Rs 200 crores. The technology development board could administer these funds and the fund may provide up to 80% of the approved project cost with equity balance being brought in by entrepreneur.
The Government can also subsidize the acquisition of EDA tools by start-ups and other SMEs in this sector.
Prototype development centers with adequate fabrication facilities can be set up as well. These centers can be managed by industry associations. Recurring costs could be met by charging user fees. ISA can be given a grant for this purpose.
The above steps will encourage entrepreneurship eco-system focus in innovation and design.
Finally, what are the industry's expectations from the new Central government?
BV Naidu said that the key areas of focus include the following:
a) Semiconductor manufacturing
i. Extension of Semicon Policy
b) Semiconductor design
i. STPI extension
ii. Transfer Pricing
c) Solar PV
i. Duty structure (point no. 3 under chapter VII on Solar PV in our pre-budget memo).
We have also made the following requests with the Government of India:
* Significance of semiconductor industry – need to accord it National Agenda status.
* Government of India Semiconductor Policy 2007 – suggested amendments.
* Domestic electronics hardware manufacturing – proposals to enhance its competitiveness.
* Fabless design companies – recommendations for growth.
* Semiconductor related research – a focus area.
* Other key proposals
* Solar PV manufacturing – Recommendations to promote domestic industry.
Naidu's tenure at ISA's helm should turn out to be a very interesting one, given that India now has a new Union Government and Union Cabinet in place, and the latest Union Budget is likely to be announced soon. In this interview, Naidu also talks about the industry's expectations from the Central Government, on the fabs vs. fabless debate, and on the need for building a system for incubating Indian start-ups, respectively.
A very interesting development would be the ISA's proposal of the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document for the country. When this document is tabled, it should interest those countries, and companies, looking to invest in India -- as the document would lay out all of the clear, long term goals for the Indian semiconductor industry. Exciting times seem to be ahead for the Indian semiconductor industry. Excerpts:
Main goal for ISA
Naidu said that the ISA needs to get adopted to the changing dynamics in the industry with the increasing domestic market. It is necessary for India to enhance the product design capabilities -- which are made in India for India. In view of this, the ISA is enhancing its scope to cover the embedded software and systems companies.
"As a result of the new semiconductor policy, there has been spurt of the growth of the solar PV industry in the country. ISA has spearheaded the semicon policy, ISA is also covering the solar PV industry. Thereby, ISA is spreading its reach to cover the embedded software, electronic products as well as photovoltaic sectors," he said.
Top five points on ISA's agenda
BV Naidu: According to ISA, these should be:
i. ISA would work along with industry, academia and the Government, and formulate the strategy for the growth of fabulous design companies, product design companies, ecosystem companies and solar PV companies.
ii. ISA would also propose the India Semiconductor Vision 2020 Document for the country.
iii. ISA would enhance its activities focusing on increased product desired companies.
iv. ISA will put up a plan for working along with entrepreneurs, mentors, venture capitalists and academic institutions to enhance entrepreneurship and IP creation.
v. ISA will work with the Union Government to enhance the growth of the solar PV sector, its visibility and Government incentives to make this industry viable for growth in India.
Building semiconductor ecosystem in India
BV Naidu said that the ISA is taking several steps. These are:
ISA will strive to enhance the strategic value to its member companies -- semicon, systems and solar -- by creating balanced eco system around the its stakeholders -- industry, government and academia.
ISA should be accepted as a tier 1 industry body and think tank/advisory body for influencing policy for the Central and State governments. ISA would also encourage an entrepreneurship ecosystem focus in innovation and design. As for talent, ISA will aim for 100 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next five years.
With regard to what ISA would be doing in the coming year and in the current economic scenario, it would include the following:
For the government:
* Aim to remove anomalies in duty structure for semicon companies (Mo Fin/Com).
* Grow further fabless design companies in India (DIT).
* Roadmap for electronic manufacturing in India (NMCC).
* Take forward recommendations of SPV report (MNRE).
* Take forward the Semicon Policy implementation.
* Strengthen ties with state governments.
For SMEs/startups:
* Create platforms for mentoring & funding interaction with VCs.
* Make the ISA website a resource centre on the Indian semicon industry.
Market facing activities:
* Increase domestic market.
* Made in India for India.
* Increase competitiveness of product design, mfg & market reach.
* Position India as solar PV hub.
* Publish market sales data on a quarterly basis.
For talent:
* Aim for at least 20 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next 12 months.
Education and research perspectives
BV Naidu added that the participation of education and research would be as follows:
* Aim for 100 PhD enrollments in research in medical and energy over the next five years.
* Close working partnership between ISA and VSI to drive research agenda.
* Strong existing commitment to this agenda from VSI through corpus.
* Need each ISA member to sponsor at least one full time PhD student each year over the next five years.
* Commitment to be financial (Rs 25,000 pm), mentoring and test chips.
* Sponsorship amount will also cover international paper presentation, faculty support, kits, etc.
* ISA will work with DST to potentially match the aid from industry.
* VSI will work with universities and sponsoring companies to identify and mentor the scholars.
* All fundamental IP from the research will be available to the pool of sponsoring companies.
ISA's goal is to drive the fundamental pre-competitive semiconductor research in medical and energy in India.
Boosting semicon manufacturing
According to BV Naidu: India’s chip manufacturing has been restricted to captive centers for defense and aerospace to date. The announcement of the semiconductor policy 2007 is likely to see the opening of doors to global investors in both chip manufacturing and its ecosystem, and related hi-tech manufacturing.
The Government of India has announced a national semiconductor policy. It seeks to establish India as an attractive destination for global investors. The policy has financial subsidies and it is necessary that due diligence takes place before these benefits are sanctioned. The appointment of the Appraisal Committee and the setting up of guidelines to evaluate investments are the key for the long-term effectiveness of the policy and to build the sector.
The solar photovoltaic industry has received a real boost with the introduction of this policy and given India an opportunity to be a global player. It has also opened up opportunities for investments and employment.
Given the current economic climate, it would not be an uncommon request if the semicon policy is extended from 2010 to at least 2014/2015!
"ISA, particularly, will work along with the Government of India and various state governments to create manufacturing clusters around the country. The ISA also conducts the Excite exhibition to bring all the ecosystem players who could bring the manufacturing industry together," he added.
Fabs vs. fabless
Fabs vs. fabless has been an interesting debate. What should be the way forward for the Indian industry?
BV Naidu said: "Currently, the Indian semiconductor companies mainly focus on IC design services comprising VLSI design, board design and embedded software and are mostly in services, with a small number of product companies. There is also some amount of board level fabrication and testing activity.
"India has the potential to become a global design centre and a leader in product design, development, testing, fabrication and distribution. As a strategy, one should focus initially on product design, development, assembly and test, while leveraging wafer fabrication capability from the most competitive sources in the region."
Incubating start-ups
We haven't seen many start-ups in the recent past. How can the India industry go about trying to build a system for incubating Indian start-ups?
BV Naidu: It would be appropriate if the Government of India could provide seed and start-up capital for the new ventures and set up a focused venture fund of about Rs 200 crores. The technology development board could administer these funds and the fund may provide up to 80% of the approved project cost with equity balance being brought in by entrepreneur.
The Government can also subsidize the acquisition of EDA tools by start-ups and other SMEs in this sector.
Prototype development centers with adequate fabrication facilities can be set up as well. These centers can be managed by industry associations. Recurring costs could be met by charging user fees. ISA can be given a grant for this purpose.
The above steps will encourage entrepreneurship eco-system focus in innovation and design.
Finally, what are the industry's expectations from the new Central government?
BV Naidu said that the key areas of focus include the following:
a) Semiconductor manufacturing
i. Extension of Semicon Policy
b) Semiconductor design
i. STPI extension
ii. Transfer Pricing
c) Solar PV
i. Duty structure (point no. 3 under chapter VII on Solar PV in our pre-budget memo).
We have also made the following requests with the Government of India:
* Significance of semiconductor industry – need to accord it National Agenda status.
* Government of India Semiconductor Policy 2007 – suggested amendments.
* Domestic electronics hardware manufacturing – proposals to enhance its competitiveness.
* Fabless design companies – recommendations for growth.
* Semiconductor related research – a focus area.
* Other key proposals
* Solar PV manufacturing – Recommendations to promote domestic industry.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Dr. Bobby Mitra, TI and ISA on the Indian semiconductor industry
Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra, Vice Chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA), and President and Managing Director, Texas Instruments India, really needs no introduction.
He has been actively involved with TI India since its inception, and is among the well known and respected stalwarts within the Indian semiconductor industry.
Dr. Mitra was recently nominated as the vice chairman, ISA.
Naturally, it was interesting to get into a conversation with him to find out more about ISA's agenda in the coming year, and the impact it could have on the Indian semiconductor industry. I also quizzed him regarding the steps ISA be likely taking for building and strengthening a semiconductor ecosystem in India. Excerpts:
Key points in agenda
Let us start by finding out the key points on his agenda for the ISA in the coming year and why?
According to Dr. Bobby Mitra: The Agenda... "I believe, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform India from an emerging economy to an emerged economy through technology innovation. A robust technology infrastructure must be the foundation of the future Indian economy.
"We can leverage technology to make healthcare and education affordable and available to the masses. Technology can also play a pivotal role in the greening of the environment through a variety of highly energy-efficient solutions. The future of our security infrastructure can also be built on the foundation of technology innovation.
"A large number of system design and manufacturing OEMs in India, and a few large and many medium/small-sized companies, are at the forefront of driving this technology innovation in India, and other emerging economies. Semiconductor solutions are the engine behind such innovations.
"As part of the ISA, our focus will be to provide an impetus to these companies by developing an electronic design and manufacturing ecosystem that is globally competitive and efficient.
"As part of ISA, we will also focus on developing a technology research agenda in India that is targeted at seeding the right solutions for the emerging economies. This will require deep insights into the intricacies and characteristics of an emerging economy -- and the technologies that can accelerate their growth. Through targeted research in healthcare, energy, education etc., we will develop future technologies that will drive the transformation of India from an emerging to an emerged economy."
By working closely with other emerging economies and global industry associations and research bodies, we will also build a roadmap in thrust areas such as energy, healthcare, education and security.
…and the Opportunity to Impact:
Dr. Mitra added that the opportunity to impact is huge. According to the ISA-Frost & Sullivan report (2006):
* The direct impact of semiconductor driven industry will be $202 billion by 2015 contributing to more than 12 percent of country’s GDP.
* The induced impact will be $226 billion by 2015 contributing to additional 15.9 percent of the country’s GDP.
* The combined impact will be more than 27.9 percent of our country’s GDP.
* No single industry will have the ability to impact the nation’s economy in a similar manner.
* In India, direct impact of hi-tech driven industry will be $202B by 2015 contributing to more than 12 percent of the country’s GDP.
"For India, to seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity, we need to build a robust technology infrastructure as our foundation for the future. ISA with its member companies playing a defining role in developing and implementing this roadmap for the future.
"Most importantly, by maniacally driving this agenda, we can make a lasting difference to the lives of the millions of people in our country," he noted.
Product development in India
What can be really done to trigger off more product development in the semicon space in India?
According to Dr. Bobby Mitra, the best trigger to more product development lies in building long-term credibility. Success in building world-class products and technologies, and doing so consistently over time, will go a long way.
He said: "As much as successes, we also need to be humble in learning more from our failures and scars. We also need to increase our focus on building deep competencies in designing complex semiconductor solutions, increasingly with a systems and applications mindset.
"I believe that we also have a major opportunity ahead of us in the electronic product development space in India. By having electronic system designers, and semiconductor design and test engineers working collaboratively, we can support our OEMs in developing the right products that are competitive. By anchoring semiconductor product innovations on our customers, we can win together."
He has been actively involved with TI India since its inception, and is among the well known and respected stalwarts within the Indian semiconductor industry.
Dr. Mitra was recently nominated as the vice chairman, ISA.
Naturally, it was interesting to get into a conversation with him to find out more about ISA's agenda in the coming year, and the impact it could have on the Indian semiconductor industry. I also quizzed him regarding the steps ISA be likely taking for building and strengthening a semiconductor ecosystem in India. Excerpts:
Key points in agenda
Let us start by finding out the key points on his agenda for the ISA in the coming year and why?
According to Dr. Bobby Mitra: The Agenda... "I believe, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform India from an emerging economy to an emerged economy through technology innovation. A robust technology infrastructure must be the foundation of the future Indian economy.
"We can leverage technology to make healthcare and education affordable and available to the masses. Technology can also play a pivotal role in the greening of the environment through a variety of highly energy-efficient solutions. The future of our security infrastructure can also be built on the foundation of technology innovation.
"A large number of system design and manufacturing OEMs in India, and a few large and many medium/small-sized companies, are at the forefront of driving this technology innovation in India, and other emerging economies. Semiconductor solutions are the engine behind such innovations.
"As part of the ISA, our focus will be to provide an impetus to these companies by developing an electronic design and manufacturing ecosystem that is globally competitive and efficient.
"As part of ISA, we will also focus on developing a technology research agenda in India that is targeted at seeding the right solutions for the emerging economies. This will require deep insights into the intricacies and characteristics of an emerging economy -- and the technologies that can accelerate their growth. Through targeted research in healthcare, energy, education etc., we will develop future technologies that will drive the transformation of India from an emerging to an emerged economy."
By working closely with other emerging economies and global industry associations and research bodies, we will also build a roadmap in thrust areas such as energy, healthcare, education and security.
…and the Opportunity to Impact:
Dr. Mitra added that the opportunity to impact is huge. According to the ISA-Frost & Sullivan report (2006):
* The direct impact of semiconductor driven industry will be $202 billion by 2015 contributing to more than 12 percent of country’s GDP.
* The induced impact will be $226 billion by 2015 contributing to additional 15.9 percent of the country’s GDP.
* The combined impact will be more than 27.9 percent of our country’s GDP.
* No single industry will have the ability to impact the nation’s economy in a similar manner.
* In India, direct impact of hi-tech driven industry will be $202B by 2015 contributing to more than 12 percent of the country’s GDP.
"For India, to seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity, we need to build a robust technology infrastructure as our foundation for the future. ISA with its member companies playing a defining role in developing and implementing this roadmap for the future.
"Most importantly, by maniacally driving this agenda, we can make a lasting difference to the lives of the millions of people in our country," he noted.
Product development in India
What can be really done to trigger off more product development in the semicon space in India?
According to Dr. Bobby Mitra, the best trigger to more product development lies in building long-term credibility. Success in building world-class products and technologies, and doing so consistently over time, will go a long way.
He said: "As much as successes, we also need to be humble in learning more from our failures and scars. We also need to increase our focus on building deep competencies in designing complex semiconductor solutions, increasingly with a systems and applications mindset.
"I believe that we also have a major opportunity ahead of us in the electronic product development space in India. By having electronic system designers, and semiconductor design and test engineers working collaboratively, we can support our OEMs in developing the right products that are competitive. By anchoring semiconductor product innovations on our customers, we can win together."
Thursday, May 7, 2009
BV Naidu takes over as ISA Chairman
BANGALORE, INDIA: The India Semiconductor Association ISA, the premier trade body representing Indian semiconductor, systems and solar photovoltaicindustry, announced the appointment of its new Executive Council for the year 2009-10.
BV Naidu, Group CEO, Genexx Enpower Corp. Pvt. Ltd. would be the Chairman, and Dr. Bobby Mitra, President and Managing Director, Texas Instruments India would be the Vice–Chairman in the coming year.
Announcing the new members to the Executive Council, Poornima Shenoy, President ISA, said: "The ISA Executive Council represents the key segments of the semiconductor industry and both domestic and international design and manufacturing companies. ISA would be driving the 3 S’s representing Solar, Semicon and Systems companies, and adding significant value to members in those spaces with the support of Government and our stakeholders.
"The Indian semicon design industry is expected to reach $10.96 billion market by 2010, while the market demand for semiconductors is expected to reach $ 7.59 billion by 2010."
ISA Chairman
B V Naidu,
Group Chief Executive officer, Genexx Enpower Corp. Pvt. Ltd
ISA Vice Chairman
Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra
President & Managing Director, Texas Instruments India Pvt Ltd
Treasurer
Dr. Pradip K. Dutta
Corporate Vice President & Managing Director, Synopsys (I) Pvt Ltd
Advisor
Jaswinder S. Ahuja
Corporate Vice President & Managing Director India, Cadence Design Systems India
ISA President
Ms Poornima Shenoy
President, India Semiconductor Association
Anil Gupta
Managing Director, ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Rajiv Kapur
Managing Director, Broadcom (I) Pvt. Ltd
Ganesh Guruswamy
Vice President & Country Manager, Freescale Semiconductor (I) Pvt. Ltd
S. Janakiraman
President & Group CEO – Product Engineering Services, Mindtree Ltd
Dr. Rajeewa Arya
Chief Executive Officer, Moser Baer (I) Ltd
Vivek Sharma
Vice President Asiapac-India Operation, Director India Design Centres, STMicroelectronics Pvt. Ltd
BV Naidu, Group CEO, Genexx Enpower Corp. Pvt. Ltd. would be the Chairman, and Dr. Bobby Mitra, President and Managing Director, Texas Instruments India would be the Vice–Chairman in the coming year.
Announcing the new members to the Executive Council, Poornima Shenoy, President ISA, said: "The ISA Executive Council represents the key segments of the semiconductor industry and both domestic and international design and manufacturing companies. ISA would be driving the 3 S’s representing Solar, Semicon and Systems companies, and adding significant value to members in those spaces with the support of Government and our stakeholders.
"The Indian semicon design industry is expected to reach $10.96 billion market by 2010, while the market demand for semiconductors is expected to reach $ 7.59 billion by 2010."
ISA Chairman
B V Naidu,
Group Chief Executive officer, Genexx Enpower Corp. Pvt. Ltd
ISA Vice Chairman
Dr. Biswadip (Bobby) Mitra
President & Managing Director, Texas Instruments India Pvt Ltd
Treasurer
Dr. Pradip K. Dutta
Corporate Vice President & Managing Director, Synopsys (I) Pvt Ltd
Advisor
Jaswinder S. Ahuja
Corporate Vice President & Managing Director India, Cadence Design Systems India
ISA President
Ms Poornima Shenoy
President, India Semiconductor Association
Anil Gupta
Managing Director, ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd
Rajiv Kapur
Managing Director, Broadcom (I) Pvt. Ltd
Ganesh Guruswamy
Vice President & Country Manager, Freescale Semiconductor (I) Pvt. Ltd
S. Janakiraman
President & Group CEO – Product Engineering Services, Mindtree Ltd
Dr. Rajeewa Arya
Chief Executive Officer, Moser Baer (I) Ltd
Vivek Sharma
Vice President Asiapac-India Operation, Director India Design Centres, STMicroelectronics Pvt. Ltd
Sunday, March 8, 2009
ISA Vision Summit 2009: Growing influence of embedded software on hardware world
This session on day 1 of the recently held ISA Vision Summit had a good mix of speakers. Moderated by Anil Gupta, managing director, ARM India, the speakers included V.R. Venkatesh, Senior Vice President, Product Engineering Services, Wipro Technologies, Kishor Patil, MD & CEO, KPIT Cummins, and Raju Pudota, MD, Denali Software. This is a slightly longer blog post, so bear with me, friends.
The pic here shows Wipro's Venkatesh making a point, watched by Raju Pudota, Amil Gupta and Kishor Patil.
Kicking off the panel discussion, ARM's Anil Gupta highlighted the strength of the Indian embedded software industry. As per IDC, embedded software accounts for 81 percent of the projected share of overall revenues in 2008, at $5.98 billion. This will go up to $7.29 billion, while still accounting for 81 percent of the projected share of overall revenues in 2009. The projected share of the overall workforce in this industry segment stands at 82 percent -- at 125,663 -- which will be maintained during 2009, even as this figure rises to 149,978! Quite impressive!!
Incidentally, a recruiter recently requested information on the workforce numbers in the Indian semiconductor industry. I hope this partly answers your question, friend.
Gupta further added that embedded design had now entered several sectors such as automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer and home products, household appliances, industrial controls, infrastructure and construction, medical electronics, transportation and traffic management, security and telecom. In short, a bright future for this segment ensured, especially in India.
Trends in embedded design include: more demand for features, embedded is driving complexity, and prices have been generally constant/going down. As a result, all of the innovation happening has been giving new experience to the consumers.
Wipro's V.R. Venkatesh cited the example of medical devices, which are adding functions via embedded software. He presented the case of an efficient infusion pump, which ensures that the five rights of medication safety -- right person, right dose, right medicine, right time, and right way -- are never violated!
Another example cited was of adding functions in mobile devices. Such mobile devices are making use more dual core chip solutions to run multimedia and MIPS intensive apps on a separate applications processor. They use open operating systems (OS) such as Symbian, Linux, etc., and also have built in sensors, such as motion sensors.
Consequently, usability is now becoming the focus, rather than pure user interface of the mobile. On the impact of software complexity, he said that OSs and middleware are now becoming more complex to enable quicker and easy to develop mobile applications, and also develop complex mobile application with the right API support. He also cited new advances in automotive telematics and navigation. These are implemented through complex software and demanding more hardware features.
Challenges in developing embedded software
However, increasing embedded software has also brought its own challenges. Today, the share of software is ~50 percent of the total cost of development.
Some of the challenges while developing embedded software include multiple regulations; split personality: display (local and remote), compute and communicate; UI; low-power design, application specific accelerators; wireless as de facto connectivity; integrated sensors and geospatiality for enhanced applications; built for untrusted environments (security, virtualization); and integration with service providers and enterprise systems.
Hardware and software in an embedded system are complimentary to each other. Software (middleware and applications) should be used as a 'Differentiator' to add more winning features to any new product, he added. There is a need for a platform approach for embedded software development to enable scaling of features and usage across applications. Finally, developers need to keep the cost vs. functions vs. efficiency tradeoff in mind.
Embedded systems landscape trends
KPIT Cummins' Kishor Patil touched upon the growing need of convergence for hardware and software. According to him, the key driving forces are:
* Low cost and high performance;
* Low power and green;
* Maximum storage and least area/cost;
* Development: Faster TAT (turnaround time);
* Mechanical centric => electronics centric; and
* High value and low cost.
Trends in hardware include silicon shrink at 0.7x, technology challenges at 45nm and below, and business challenges -- high volumes for amortizing high mask costs.
Commenting on the embedded systems landscape: market trends and implications, he cited these to be: electronics and applications emerging as distinctive factors; increased electronics in automobiles (~100 MCUs/ECUs per car); silicon shrinkage reaching its limit w.r.t. geometry and costs; and enhancing system performance with the same hardware.
Content growth has been quite notable in automotive electronics. According to Patil, in 2000, an average automobile had 1 million lines of code, 20 ECUs, electronics worth $400, and software constituted 2 percent of the cost of the car. By 2010, an average car will have 100 million lines of code, 50 ECUs, electronics worth $1,100 and software cost at 13 percent of the cost of a car. Of this, 50 percent will be infotainment and 30 percent will be power train.
Impact on stakeholders
So what is the impact on the stakeholders? For OEMs, tier 1s, and semicon companies, it brings new business opportunities, and application specific solutions -- common/configurable hardware differentiated by software.
It allows R&D to migrate from proprietary interfaces to open and standard-based interfaces. The impact on software developers includes use of heterogeneous processors, managing parallelism, as well as dealing with scalability, compatibility and re-usability.
Embedded software's growing importance
Denali's Raju Pudota focused on current trends, such as growth in UMPC (ultra mobile PCs) designs; multimedia and automotive. For hardware, it means higher integration, multiple embedded processors in one SoC, and multiple microcontrollers (MCUs) with independent functions. Most importantly, embedded software is needed to make all of this work!
He said that more software is required to run all of the IPs integrated on the chip. These can be procured from hardware IP vendors, or developed in-house or contracted to third party providers. Also, different processors require different skills and capabilities. Finally, integration and embedded OS level capabilities. Incidentally, embedded software has become a requirement on the semicon provider. However, third-party IP has been evolving slowly.
Semicon providers' activities are manifold. These involve developing software for in-house hardware components, sourcing software from hardware IP providers, integrating various software components, and also test software offered to the system integrator.
These growing activities present its own challenges, typically: quality of software provided by hardware IP vendors, high integration time, software verification, and increased investment in software capabilities -- and emergence of a new area of core competence.
What can the ecosystem do?
Given this scenario, the ecosystem has a major role to play. These include:
Ease of generation of hardware-aware software -- define methods to abstract design to enable auto-generation of device drivers; define methods to auto-generate device drivers; few companies investing in this area.
Define framework/platform to integrate software -- similar to on-chip interconnect; leverage mature general software development processes; and customize to specific requirements of embedded area. Finally, make software offerings open-source; leverage large independent developer community.
Ease testing of embedded software
There is also a need to ease the testing of embedded software. Some points to note: Leading semicon providers have home grown software integration and testing platforms; making use of traditional methods -- hardware-software co-simulation, simulation acceleration, emulation, and FPGA testing. However, no standard methodology is said to be evolving.
Many industry solutions currently exist for hardware-software integrated testing, such as CoWare, SystemC, Mirabilis, etc. Then, there's also simulation accelerators (parallel processing), and emulators (FPGA based).
Challenges include: huge investment in model development, high cost of ownership, the ability of third party IP provider to enable integration, and large turnaround time per test. A proper framework for the integration and testing of IPs and embedded software is the need of the hour.
Pudota added that while this is a tough challenge, it would improve time-to-market for complex SOCs, develop a third-party IP ecosystem, and enable the semicon provider to focus on core competencies.
The pic here shows Wipro's Venkatesh making a point, watched by Raju Pudota, Amil Gupta and Kishor Patil.Kicking off the panel discussion, ARM's Anil Gupta highlighted the strength of the Indian embedded software industry. As per IDC, embedded software accounts for 81 percent of the projected share of overall revenues in 2008, at $5.98 billion. This will go up to $7.29 billion, while still accounting for 81 percent of the projected share of overall revenues in 2009. The projected share of the overall workforce in this industry segment stands at 82 percent -- at 125,663 -- which will be maintained during 2009, even as this figure rises to 149,978! Quite impressive!!
Incidentally, a recruiter recently requested information on the workforce numbers in the Indian semiconductor industry. I hope this partly answers your question, friend.
Gupta further added that embedded design had now entered several sectors such as automotive, aerospace and defense, consumer and home products, household appliances, industrial controls, infrastructure and construction, medical electronics, transportation and traffic management, security and telecom. In short, a bright future for this segment ensured, especially in India.
Trends in embedded design include: more demand for features, embedded is driving complexity, and prices have been generally constant/going down. As a result, all of the innovation happening has been giving new experience to the consumers.
Wipro's V.R. Venkatesh cited the example of medical devices, which are adding functions via embedded software. He presented the case of an efficient infusion pump, which ensures that the five rights of medication safety -- right person, right dose, right medicine, right time, and right way -- are never violated!
Another example cited was of adding functions in mobile devices. Such mobile devices are making use more dual core chip solutions to run multimedia and MIPS intensive apps on a separate applications processor. They use open operating systems (OS) such as Symbian, Linux, etc., and also have built in sensors, such as motion sensors.
Consequently, usability is now becoming the focus, rather than pure user interface of the mobile. On the impact of software complexity, he said that OSs and middleware are now becoming more complex to enable quicker and easy to develop mobile applications, and also develop complex mobile application with the right API support. He also cited new advances in automotive telematics and navigation. These are implemented through complex software and demanding more hardware features.
Challenges in developing embedded software
However, increasing embedded software has also brought its own challenges. Today, the share of software is ~50 percent of the total cost of development.
Some of the challenges while developing embedded software include multiple regulations; split personality: display (local and remote), compute and communicate; UI; low-power design, application specific accelerators; wireless as de facto connectivity; integrated sensors and geospatiality for enhanced applications; built for untrusted environments (security, virtualization); and integration with service providers and enterprise systems.
Hardware and software in an embedded system are complimentary to each other. Software (middleware and applications) should be used as a 'Differentiator' to add more winning features to any new product, he added. There is a need for a platform approach for embedded software development to enable scaling of features and usage across applications. Finally, developers need to keep the cost vs. functions vs. efficiency tradeoff in mind.
Embedded systems landscape trends
KPIT Cummins' Kishor Patil touched upon the growing need of convergence for hardware and software. According to him, the key driving forces are:
* Low cost and high performance;
* Low power and green;
* Maximum storage and least area/cost;
* Development: Faster TAT (turnaround time);
* Mechanical centric => electronics centric; and
* High value and low cost.
Trends in hardware include silicon shrink at 0.7x, technology challenges at 45nm and below, and business challenges -- high volumes for amortizing high mask costs.
Commenting on the embedded systems landscape: market trends and implications, he cited these to be: electronics and applications emerging as distinctive factors; increased electronics in automobiles (~100 MCUs/ECUs per car); silicon shrinkage reaching its limit w.r.t. geometry and costs; and enhancing system performance with the same hardware.
Content growth has been quite notable in automotive electronics. According to Patil, in 2000, an average automobile had 1 million lines of code, 20 ECUs, electronics worth $400, and software constituted 2 percent of the cost of the car. By 2010, an average car will have 100 million lines of code, 50 ECUs, electronics worth $1,100 and software cost at 13 percent of the cost of a car. Of this, 50 percent will be infotainment and 30 percent will be power train.
Impact on stakeholders
So what is the impact on the stakeholders? For OEMs, tier 1s, and semicon companies, it brings new business opportunities, and application specific solutions -- common/configurable hardware differentiated by software.
It allows R&D to migrate from proprietary interfaces to open and standard-based interfaces. The impact on software developers includes use of heterogeneous processors, managing parallelism, as well as dealing with scalability, compatibility and re-usability.
Embedded software's growing importance
Denali's Raju Pudota focused on current trends, such as growth in UMPC (ultra mobile PCs) designs; multimedia and automotive. For hardware, it means higher integration, multiple embedded processors in one SoC, and multiple microcontrollers (MCUs) with independent functions. Most importantly, embedded software is needed to make all of this work!
He said that more software is required to run all of the IPs integrated on the chip. These can be procured from hardware IP vendors, or developed in-house or contracted to third party providers. Also, different processors require different skills and capabilities. Finally, integration and embedded OS level capabilities. Incidentally, embedded software has become a requirement on the semicon provider. However, third-party IP has been evolving slowly.
Semicon providers' activities are manifold. These involve developing software for in-house hardware components, sourcing software from hardware IP providers, integrating various software components, and also test software offered to the system integrator.
These growing activities present its own challenges, typically: quality of software provided by hardware IP vendors, high integration time, software verification, and increased investment in software capabilities -- and emergence of a new area of core competence.
What can the ecosystem do?
Given this scenario, the ecosystem has a major role to play. These include:
Ease of generation of hardware-aware software -- define methods to abstract design to enable auto-generation of device drivers; define methods to auto-generate device drivers; few companies investing in this area.
Define framework/platform to integrate software -- similar to on-chip interconnect; leverage mature general software development processes; and customize to specific requirements of embedded area. Finally, make software offerings open-source; leverage large independent developer community.
Ease testing of embedded software
There is also a need to ease the testing of embedded software. Some points to note: Leading semicon providers have home grown software integration and testing platforms; making use of traditional methods -- hardware-software co-simulation, simulation acceleration, emulation, and FPGA testing. However, no standard methodology is said to be evolving.
Many industry solutions currently exist for hardware-software integrated testing, such as CoWare, SystemC, Mirabilis, etc. Then, there's also simulation accelerators (parallel processing), and emulators (FPGA based).
Challenges include: huge investment in model development, high cost of ownership, the ability of third party IP provider to enable integration, and large turnaround time per test. A proper framework for the integration and testing of IPs and embedded software is the need of the hour.
Pudota added that while this is a tough challenge, it would improve time-to-market for complex SOCs, develop a third-party IP ecosystem, and enable the semicon provider to focus on core competencies.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Definite need for rethink on India's fab strategy!
I am intrigued to see lots of great things happening in the Indian semiconductor industry, and equally frustrated to find certain things that I feel should happen, not really going the way they should!
Yes, India is very strong in the semiconductor related chip design services. However, do keep in mind folks that design services have been impacted a bit by the recession as well! There have been calls from several quarters for India to now start thinking beyond its chip design services. Therefore, are there any areas that India can look into within the semiconductor space?
Leverage strength in software
Certainly, value add in products are heavily influenced by the embedded software in addition to features of the chips, says S. Janakiraman, former chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and President and CEO-R&D Services, MindTree. "The Google Android is a great example of that. India should leverage its strength in software to enhance its value add to semiconductor companies," he adds.
Innovation is now shifting from the development of new technologies to the creation of unique applications.
"Mobile browsers and management of remote appliances to save power at home/office are examples. We need to innovate new applications that can drive the need for more electronic gadgets, and in turn, the need for more semiconductors," notes Jani Sir.
Rethink on Indian fab strategy?
One of my earlier posts focused on whether an Indian investor could buy Qimonda's memory fab, and somehow kick-start the India fab story! I did find support from many quarters on this idea, but till date, I don't think anyone from India has made a move for Qimonda. At least, I haven't heard of any such move.
Nevertheless, some folks within the Indian semiconductor industry and elsewhere have called for India to rethink on its fab strategy.
What should it be now? Or, shall we just discard this and go on, as India has been doing fine without fabs so far? Perhaps, the last option is easier!
According to Janakiraman: "Perhaps, we should consider where semiconductor technology will be after five years from now, and prepare grounds for that through encouragement of fundamental research, as well as shuttle fabs to enable prototyping. We should skip the current node of technology and make an entry into the one that will be prevalent after few years." Now, that's sound advice! Will it be easy to achieve?
"That may not be as easy to achieve for the private enterprises considering the cost involved," adds Janakiraman. "It has to be a mission of the nation to create that infrastructure and later privatize."
According to him, it is not unique to India. "Every country, be it Taiwan or China, have done it. The only other way is to heavily subsidize and support fabs like those in Israel or Vietnam, but it will be tough to choose a partner in a democratic country like ours, wherein every investment and subsidy is seen with a colored vision," he says.
To sum up, a fab for our country will be fundamental to gain leadership and self reliance. It cannot be ignored totally, although we can take our own time to reach there. Janakiraman adds, "We don't have a choice other than paying a price to reach there, now or later!"
Yes, India is very strong in the semiconductor related chip design services. However, do keep in mind folks that design services have been impacted a bit by the recession as well! There have been calls from several quarters for India to now start thinking beyond its chip design services. Therefore, are there any areas that India can look into within the semiconductor space?
Leverage strength in software
Certainly, value add in products are heavily influenced by the embedded software in addition to features of the chips, says S. Janakiraman, former chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and President and CEO-R&D Services, MindTree. "The Google Android is a great example of that. India should leverage its strength in software to enhance its value add to semiconductor companies," he adds.
Innovation is now shifting from the development of new technologies to the creation of unique applications.
"Mobile browsers and management of remote appliances to save power at home/office are examples. We need to innovate new applications that can drive the need for more electronic gadgets, and in turn, the need for more semiconductors," notes Jani Sir.
Rethink on Indian fab strategy?
One of my earlier posts focused on whether an Indian investor could buy Qimonda's memory fab, and somehow kick-start the India fab story! I did find support from many quarters on this idea, but till date, I don't think anyone from India has made a move for Qimonda. At least, I haven't heard of any such move.
Nevertheless, some folks within the Indian semiconductor industry and elsewhere have called for India to rethink on its fab strategy.
What should it be now? Or, shall we just discard this and go on, as India has been doing fine without fabs so far? Perhaps, the last option is easier!
According to Janakiraman: "Perhaps, we should consider where semiconductor technology will be after five years from now, and prepare grounds for that through encouragement of fundamental research, as well as shuttle fabs to enable prototyping. We should skip the current node of technology and make an entry into the one that will be prevalent after few years." Now, that's sound advice! Will it be easy to achieve?
"That may not be as easy to achieve for the private enterprises considering the cost involved," adds Janakiraman. "It has to be a mission of the nation to create that infrastructure and later privatize."
According to him, it is not unique to India. "Every country, be it Taiwan or China, have done it. The only other way is to heavily subsidize and support fabs like those in Israel or Vietnam, but it will be tough to choose a partner in a democratic country like ours, wherein every investment and subsidy is seen with a colored vision," he says.
To sum up, a fab for our country will be fundamental to gain leadership and self reliance. It cannot be ignored totally, although we can take our own time to reach there. Janakiraman adds, "We don't have a choice other than paying a price to reach there, now or later!"
Sunday, March 1, 2009
ISA Vision Summit 2009: Indian design influence, ideas to volume
This post is slightly delayed given the fact that I've been travelling! Here it is: Session 2 of Day 1, ISA Vision Summit 2009!!
The still quite young, Indian semiconductor industry has come a long way! Making his opening remarks during the session: Indian Design Influence, Ideas to Volume, Jaswinder Ahuja, Corporate Vice President & MD, Cadence Design Systems India, and chairman, pointed out that earlier, it used to be 'made by the world, FOR India.' However, globalization of design has now put India on the world semiconductor map. Today, it is 'made by the world, IN India.'
The picture here shows Ahuja making a point, while Freescale's Ganesh Guruswamy, TI's Dr. Bobby Mitra and Intel's Praveen Vishakantaiah are all attention.
The electronics systems production is clearly moving eastward. Even though the chip fabs may not happen in India, systems manufacturing is certainly happening. The emerging markets today offer a $5 trillion opportunity. However, the transformative challenge is: how to marry low cost, good quality, sustainability and profitability simultaneously!
Fantastic opportunity for investing in technology
Praveen Vishakantaiah, President, Intel, added that India has a fantastic opportunity ahead for investing in technology. He cited Intel's examples, such as: products designed in India for global market -- Intel Xeon 7400 processor; designed in India for India and emerging markets -- Classmate PC, which was prototyped in India; and designed in India and customized for the local market -- PoS retail kiosk solution.
Internal factors related to volume development include: unique market needs, designing for reliability, enabling customers -- standard globally but varied in India. External factors include: access to customers -- which can be challenging in a varied market such as India, access to employable talent, predictable supply chain, robust infrastructure -- digital infrastructure should scale simultaneously with design and development, and proactive policies and regulations.
According to Vishakantaiah, there is a need for a call to action and seize opportunities. This means, capitalizing on opportunities for local and global product designs, increase the impact and build end-to-end competencies, and to continue to move up the value chain. There is a need to address the internal factors. This would enable increasing the quality of products and extend local products into global markets. There is also a need to focus on the enabling the local market for global product companies.
As far as the external factors are concerned, there is a need to be proactive to remove barriers. There is a need to also encourage research, faculty development and new curriculum. India also needs to build energy efficient power, logistics and manufacturing capabilities, and also reduce e-waste and think green for all product designs.
Downturn creates huge opportunities
Ganesh Guruswamy, Director and Country Manager, Freescale Semiconductor India, remarked that even the deepest downturns can create huge opportunities for companies and countries. "Continuing to innovate during the downturn is important," he added. It is therefore, time for India to step up, put the right innovations in place and grow.
He stressed upon several custom solutions for emerging markets, such as two-wheelers, which dominate, e-bikes, which are said to be the future, LED lamps, power inverters, irrigation pumpset powered by solar, smart energy meters, and solar/PV base station and carrier based equipment for telecom.
Medical tourism is an emerging focus area for India, as it is growing by 30 percent each year. Medical tourism is likely to bring $1-2 billion to India by 2012. In this context, Guruswamy highlighted Freescale's ECG-on-a-chip solution. According to him, the way forward would involve moving away from a design mindset to a product mindset!
Don't be dwarfed by glamorous industries!
Dr Bobby Mitra, MD, Texas Instruments India, said that India is witnessing a change in its semiconductors agenda -- from R&D to R&D + market growth. If followed properly, it can become a game changing agenda. "India has nearly 2,000 OEMs designing electronics products. That's the untapped potential," he said.
Most of the customers are smaller companies -- the proverbial long tail. They know semiconductors and electronics very well. Such companies need to be measured by the firebrand innovation going on at those places.
Dr. Mitra said: "The products have to be the right kind of products. If they are complex, it is incidental." He cited defense and aerospace as very strong spaces, while industrial is also an equally strong opportunity area. "We should not be dwarfed by glamorous industries," he cautioned.
In the near term, the Indian semiconductor industry needs to develop two new stripes. These are: a high degree of customer centricity so it can be brought into the R&D engineer's minds, and have an application mindset -- India is very good in design work; it now needs to develop applications in the current context.
Dr. Mitra also called upon having research as an agenda for the industry. This can be done in areas that would assume importance in future. "By working with customers, we can make products more intelligent, by adding electronics and semiconductors," he advised. "All of us have a key role to play in this transformation."
SMEs, in particular, have a major role to play. Intel's Vishakantaiah said that MNCs would need to mentor and coach such companies. Freescale's Guruswamy added that MNCs can either help them grow or buy them out.
Dr. Mitra advised that even if customers didn't provide business, it would pay to remain close to them. He also referred to TI's Beagle Board, an open and low-cost platform, which enables development of applications. However, he advised the industry to be realistic about mass customization.
The still quite young, Indian semiconductor industry has come a long way! Making his opening remarks during the session: Indian Design Influence, Ideas to Volume, Jaswinder Ahuja, Corporate Vice President & MD, Cadence Design Systems India, and chairman, pointed out that earlier, it used to be 'made by the world, FOR India.' However, globalization of design has now put India on the world semiconductor map. Today, it is 'made by the world, IN India.'
The picture here shows Ahuja making a point, while Freescale's Ganesh Guruswamy, TI's Dr. Bobby Mitra and Intel's Praveen Vishakantaiah are all attention.The electronics systems production is clearly moving eastward. Even though the chip fabs may not happen in India, systems manufacturing is certainly happening. The emerging markets today offer a $5 trillion opportunity. However, the transformative challenge is: how to marry low cost, good quality, sustainability and profitability simultaneously!
Fantastic opportunity for investing in technology
Praveen Vishakantaiah, President, Intel, added that India has a fantastic opportunity ahead for investing in technology. He cited Intel's examples, such as: products designed in India for global market -- Intel Xeon 7400 processor; designed in India for India and emerging markets -- Classmate PC, which was prototyped in India; and designed in India and customized for the local market -- PoS retail kiosk solution.
Internal factors related to volume development include: unique market needs, designing for reliability, enabling customers -- standard globally but varied in India. External factors include: access to customers -- which can be challenging in a varied market such as India, access to employable talent, predictable supply chain, robust infrastructure -- digital infrastructure should scale simultaneously with design and development, and proactive policies and regulations.
According to Vishakantaiah, there is a need for a call to action and seize opportunities. This means, capitalizing on opportunities for local and global product designs, increase the impact and build end-to-end competencies, and to continue to move up the value chain. There is a need to address the internal factors. This would enable increasing the quality of products and extend local products into global markets. There is also a need to focus on the enabling the local market for global product companies.
As far as the external factors are concerned, there is a need to be proactive to remove barriers. There is a need to also encourage research, faculty development and new curriculum. India also needs to build energy efficient power, logistics and manufacturing capabilities, and also reduce e-waste and think green for all product designs.
Downturn creates huge opportunities
Ganesh Guruswamy, Director and Country Manager, Freescale Semiconductor India, remarked that even the deepest downturns can create huge opportunities for companies and countries. "Continuing to innovate during the downturn is important," he added. It is therefore, time for India to step up, put the right innovations in place and grow.
He stressed upon several custom solutions for emerging markets, such as two-wheelers, which dominate, e-bikes, which are said to be the future, LED lamps, power inverters, irrigation pumpset powered by solar, smart energy meters, and solar/PV base station and carrier based equipment for telecom.
Medical tourism is an emerging focus area for India, as it is growing by 30 percent each year. Medical tourism is likely to bring $1-2 billion to India by 2012. In this context, Guruswamy highlighted Freescale's ECG-on-a-chip solution. According to him, the way forward would involve moving away from a design mindset to a product mindset!
Don't be dwarfed by glamorous industries!
Dr Bobby Mitra, MD, Texas Instruments India, said that India is witnessing a change in its semiconductors agenda -- from R&D to R&D + market growth. If followed properly, it can become a game changing agenda. "India has nearly 2,000 OEMs designing electronics products. That's the untapped potential," he said.
Most of the customers are smaller companies -- the proverbial long tail. They know semiconductors and electronics very well. Such companies need to be measured by the firebrand innovation going on at those places.
Dr. Mitra said: "The products have to be the right kind of products. If they are complex, it is incidental." He cited defense and aerospace as very strong spaces, while industrial is also an equally strong opportunity area. "We should not be dwarfed by glamorous industries," he cautioned.
In the near term, the Indian semiconductor industry needs to develop two new stripes. These are: a high degree of customer centricity so it can be brought into the R&D engineer's minds, and have an application mindset -- India is very good in design work; it now needs to develop applications in the current context.
Dr. Mitra also called upon having research as an agenda for the industry. This can be done in areas that would assume importance in future. "By working with customers, we can make products more intelligent, by adding electronics and semiconductors," he advised. "All of us have a key role to play in this transformation."
SMEs, in particular, have a major role to play. Intel's Vishakantaiah said that MNCs would need to mentor and coach such companies. Freescale's Guruswamy added that MNCs can either help them grow or buy them out.
Dr. Mitra advised that even if customers didn't provide business, it would pay to remain close to them. He also referred to TI's Beagle Board, an open and low-cost platform, which enables development of applications. However, he advised the industry to be realistic about mass customization.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
What India now offers to global semicon industry!
This semicon blog post is very timely as I keep getting a lot of questions on the topic: what does India NOW offer to the global semiconductor industry in this recession! In fact, several industry friends asked me this question during the recently held ISA Vision Summit 2009.
By the way, I have two good sessions from the ISA Vision Summit 2009 to blog about, and those will happen after this post! So, stay tuned folks!! :)
Back to the key question: What does the Indian semiconductor industry now offer to the world?
My quest for answers took me to S. Janakiraman, former chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and President and CEO-R&D Services, MindTree. Incidentally, Jani Sir, had highlighted some time ago that despite the lack of wafer IC fabs, fabless India continues to shine brightly! And, I agree with him! Even at Dubai last year, during the IEF 2008, Jani Sir had talked about India's growing might in global semicon. I consider him to be the right person to discuss how India should frame its semicon path forward.
According to Jani Sir, we will remain in a tough economic scenario for some more time to come. "The cost of R&D, be it development or re-engineering or support is critical for the survival of semiconductor companies, but all of this needs to be done at lower costs. India will continue to be a cost leader to get more engineering done at the same cost or the same engineering done at a lower cost. India will continue to be a safe haven for such investments," he contends.
India itself is a high growth market that will get sizable in the next five years for the semiconductor companies. No one can understand India and the emerging market requirements than the companies who are located here. That can be leveraged by the world to create value for many products that will serve the emerging market needs.
Janakiraman said: "Indian companies are also investing in technologies and creating intellectual properties/building blocks of technologies. These are the essential elements to create products/solutions in a shorter time-frame when the market starts recovering and builds up the appetite for consumption. Hence, Indian companies need to invest more in such areas and position themselves as value-add vendors to source technologies."
Newer markets such as electronics in healthcare and renewable energy space provides a level-playing field since India's maturity level is no less inferior to the western world. "We need to invest, and create solutions and products that can establish India not only as a market, but also a leading technology provider for the global market," Janakiraman advises.
Has Indian semicon lost its way a bit?
Some folks believe that the Indian semiconductor industry has slightly lost its way since the SemIndia fab debacle late last year. I've mentioned earlier that hardly anyone wants to speak about having fabs in India at this point of time. Nevertheless, we'll need to explore whether the Indian semiconductor industry is still on track!
According to Janakiraman, while the global consumption of semiconductors has seen a drastic drop in Q4 of 2008 and is likely to see a negative growth in H1 of 2009, India will be one among the few markets that will see an increasing consumption through the sales of electronic products.
He added: "The captive and design services companies serving the semiconductor market are facing a head wind, no doubt. However, the impact on them is much lesser compared to what is happening in the rest of the world."
With the Indian semiconductor market continuing to grow, while the global market is in decline, it is possible that India may end up seeing a slower growth, but with an increased market share.
Janakiraman said: "I see the dynamics in the market will lead to India gaining way for the longer term, even though we can’t escape the short term pains. When the recovery starts, India will gather much stronger and faster momentum of growth as it will be a lucrative market for selling and the lower cost market for sourcing for any of the global semiconductor players."
Finally, what really needs to be done to get the industry in India buzzing? For starters, don’t give up hope!
Added Janakiraman: "Look at it as an opportunity to get into a level-playing field rather than a losing ground. Consider India as a potential future market. Look at and invest in the emerging opportunities such as healthcare/security/energy, and build products like telemedicine, surveillance systems and power management systems. Invest in idea creation and product management systems, and get ready for the new model of business when recovery starts."
I wonder why Jani Sir didn't deliver the keynote at the ISA Vision Summit 2009! He is just the right person as far as propping up Indian semicon is concerned!!
By the way, I have two good sessions from the ISA Vision Summit 2009 to blog about, and those will happen after this post! So, stay tuned folks!! :)
Back to the key question: What does the Indian semiconductor industry now offer to the world?
My quest for answers took me to S. Janakiraman, former chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and President and CEO-R&D Services, MindTree. Incidentally, Jani Sir, had highlighted some time ago that despite the lack of wafer IC fabs, fabless India continues to shine brightly! And, I agree with him! Even at Dubai last year, during the IEF 2008, Jani Sir had talked about India's growing might in global semicon. I consider him to be the right person to discuss how India should frame its semicon path forward.According to Jani Sir, we will remain in a tough economic scenario for some more time to come. "The cost of R&D, be it development or re-engineering or support is critical for the survival of semiconductor companies, but all of this needs to be done at lower costs. India will continue to be a cost leader to get more engineering done at the same cost or the same engineering done at a lower cost. India will continue to be a safe haven for such investments," he contends.
India itself is a high growth market that will get sizable in the next five years for the semiconductor companies. No one can understand India and the emerging market requirements than the companies who are located here. That can be leveraged by the world to create value for many products that will serve the emerging market needs.
Janakiraman said: "Indian companies are also investing in technologies and creating intellectual properties/building blocks of technologies. These are the essential elements to create products/solutions in a shorter time-frame when the market starts recovering and builds up the appetite for consumption. Hence, Indian companies need to invest more in such areas and position themselves as value-add vendors to source technologies."
Newer markets such as electronics in healthcare and renewable energy space provides a level-playing field since India's maturity level is no less inferior to the western world. "We need to invest, and create solutions and products that can establish India not only as a market, but also a leading technology provider for the global market," Janakiraman advises.
Has Indian semicon lost its way a bit?
Some folks believe that the Indian semiconductor industry has slightly lost its way since the SemIndia fab debacle late last year. I've mentioned earlier that hardly anyone wants to speak about having fabs in India at this point of time. Nevertheless, we'll need to explore whether the Indian semiconductor industry is still on track!
According to Janakiraman, while the global consumption of semiconductors has seen a drastic drop in Q4 of 2008 and is likely to see a negative growth in H1 of 2009, India will be one among the few markets that will see an increasing consumption through the sales of electronic products.
He added: "The captive and design services companies serving the semiconductor market are facing a head wind, no doubt. However, the impact on them is much lesser compared to what is happening in the rest of the world."
With the Indian semiconductor market continuing to grow, while the global market is in decline, it is possible that India may end up seeing a slower growth, but with an increased market share.
Janakiraman said: "I see the dynamics in the market will lead to India gaining way for the longer term, even though we can’t escape the short term pains. When the recovery starts, India will gather much stronger and faster momentum of growth as it will be a lucrative market for selling and the lower cost market for sourcing for any of the global semiconductor players."
Finally, what really needs to be done to get the industry in India buzzing? For starters, don’t give up hope!
Added Janakiraman: "Look at it as an opportunity to get into a level-playing field rather than a losing ground. Consider India as a potential future market. Look at and invest in the emerging opportunities such as healthcare/security/energy, and build products like telemedicine, surveillance systems and power management systems. Invest in idea creation and product management systems, and get ready for the new model of business when recovery starts."
I wonder why Jani Sir didn't deliver the keynote at the ISA Vision Summit 2009! He is just the right person as far as propping up Indian semicon is concerned!!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
ISA Vision Summit 2009: Local products, emerging opportunities!
The first session on day 1 of the ISA Vision Summit 2009 focused on local products and emerging opportunities in India, especially in healthcare, automotive electronics and mobility. It was great to see companies present solutions developed for India, by Indians. If earlier, it used to be "made by the world for India," today, it has changed to "made by the world, in India." This focuses highly on India's well known strength in design services.
In the picture, you can see Ajay Vasudeva, Head R&D, Nokia India, making a point, with Prof. Rajeev Gowda, IIM-Bangalore, Ashish Shah, GM, GE Healthcare, and Dr. Aravind S. Bharadwaj, CEO, Automotive Infotronics, listening very attentively.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, IIM-Bangalore, said: "As the world is in recession, we are still cheerful, and we are still growing." He called upon the industry to focus on healthcare, which is an area where work is going on. Agriculture is yet another area to look at! According to him, Bangalore had become an IT center, it had yet to become a knowledge center. "As an industry, think about reaching out to colleges, and get people to think innovatively and creatively," he added.
Dr. Aravind S. Bharadwaj, CEO, Automotive Infotronics Pvt Ltd, a a joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Continental AG, in his presentation, highlighted that infotronics for automotives is an opportunity for India. He added that the infotronics content in automotives was growing, and is likely to touch around 40 percent by 2010. In India, the auto industry was growing at a CAGR of 11.4 percent, and auto electronics was growing at a CAGR of 21 percent.
What is the India advantage here? "We definitely have a high level of expertise. India can also become an automotive embedded powerhouse," he said.
Dwelling on the current trends in automotive electronics in India, he said that there has been an increase in demand by customers for technically advanced in vehicles. Also, there are strict emission and safety regulations in place. Some other trends include the increase in automotive exports, and fuel economy in Indian driving conditions.
Dr. Bharadwaj cited the example of the fleet management telematics solution at the Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai. He added that embedded automotive applications will dominate the future automotive applications.
Healthcare market to explode!
Ashish Shah, General Manager, GE Healthcare Global Technology Organization, India, said that two sectors will undergo tremendous growth in India: healthcare and energy, and added that the country is now ready for growth. He highlighted the fact that about 20 percent of GE's engineers were Indians, thereby indicating a huge talent pool within the country itself.
The drivers for Indian healtcare market include: medical tourism: About 175,000 foreign nationals; up 25 percent; huge investments: government spending up 1-2 percent of GDP; disease patterns: such as lifestyle diseases; and increased spending in healthcare.
The bottom line is that growth is for real! The Indian healthcare market is about to explode," said Shah.
Shah displayed an ECG, the MAC 400, which has been developed for India. While the company shipped 3,600 units last year, and of these, about 500 units in India, GE projects selling 10,000 units during this year. The selling price of this device is an affordable $700. GE is also making maternal infant products, as well as x-ray programs. It is also developing an MRI application, which would not require the injecting of a contrast agent, thereby, leading to 50 percent savings!
In his presentation, Ajay Vasudeva, Head R&D, Nokia India, focused on the tipping point for mobility today. More people have access to a mobile phone than a PC, and most use it to access the Internet.
He highlighted some of the applications Nokia is developing, such as those for mobile rural/irrigation applications, mobile banking and NFC (near fied communications), and mobile healthcare and diabetes checking -- all using the mobile phone! Livelihood, such as agriculture, and life improvement, such as education, services are highly relevant in India. Of course, entertainment has the widest appeal!
Vasudeva concluded by remarking, "Together, let's create devices, products, services and solutions, that can change peoples' lives."
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, session moderator, called upon India to devise policies on e-waste, and to think about how can we convert semiconductor waste into energy.
In the picture, you can see Ajay Vasudeva, Head R&D, Nokia India, making a point, with Prof. Rajeev Gowda, IIM-Bangalore, Ashish Shah, GM, GE Healthcare, and Dr. Aravind S. Bharadwaj, CEO, Automotive Infotronics, listening very attentively.In his opening remarks, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, IIM-Bangalore, said: "As the world is in recession, we are still cheerful, and we are still growing." He called upon the industry to focus on healthcare, which is an area where work is going on. Agriculture is yet another area to look at! According to him, Bangalore had become an IT center, it had yet to become a knowledge center. "As an industry, think about reaching out to colleges, and get people to think innovatively and creatively," he added.
Dr. Aravind S. Bharadwaj, CEO, Automotive Infotronics Pvt Ltd, a a joint venture between Ashok Leyland and Continental AG, in his presentation, highlighted that infotronics for automotives is an opportunity for India. He added that the infotronics content in automotives was growing, and is likely to touch around 40 percent by 2010. In India, the auto industry was growing at a CAGR of 11.4 percent, and auto electronics was growing at a CAGR of 21 percent.
What is the India advantage here? "We definitely have a high level of expertise. India can also become an automotive embedded powerhouse," he said.
Dwelling on the current trends in automotive electronics in India, he said that there has been an increase in demand by customers for technically advanced in vehicles. Also, there are strict emission and safety regulations in place. Some other trends include the increase in automotive exports, and fuel economy in Indian driving conditions.
Dr. Bharadwaj cited the example of the fleet management telematics solution at the Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai. He added that embedded automotive applications will dominate the future automotive applications.
Healthcare market to explode!
Ashish Shah, General Manager, GE Healthcare Global Technology Organization, India, said that two sectors will undergo tremendous growth in India: healthcare and energy, and added that the country is now ready for growth. He highlighted the fact that about 20 percent of GE's engineers were Indians, thereby indicating a huge talent pool within the country itself.
The drivers for Indian healtcare market include: medical tourism: About 175,000 foreign nationals; up 25 percent; huge investments: government spending up 1-2 percent of GDP; disease patterns: such as lifestyle diseases; and increased spending in healthcare.
The bottom line is that growth is for real! The Indian healthcare market is about to explode," said Shah.
Shah displayed an ECG, the MAC 400, which has been developed for India. While the company shipped 3,600 units last year, and of these, about 500 units in India, GE projects selling 10,000 units during this year. The selling price of this device is an affordable $700. GE is also making maternal infant products, as well as x-ray programs. It is also developing an MRI application, which would not require the injecting of a contrast agent, thereby, leading to 50 percent savings!
In his presentation, Ajay Vasudeva, Head R&D, Nokia India, focused on the tipping point for mobility today. More people have access to a mobile phone than a PC, and most use it to access the Internet.
He highlighted some of the applications Nokia is developing, such as those for mobile rural/irrigation applications, mobile banking and NFC (near fied communications), and mobile healthcare and diabetes checking -- all using the mobile phone! Livelihood, such as agriculture, and life improvement, such as education, services are highly relevant in India. Of course, entertainment has the widest appeal!
Vasudeva concluded by remarking, "Together, let's create devices, products, services and solutions, that can change peoples' lives."
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Rajeev Gowda, session moderator, called upon India to devise policies on e-waste, and to think about how can we convert semiconductor waste into energy.
Monday, February 16, 2009
ISA Vision Summit 2009 lacks the punch!
Yes, that's how I felt, at the end of the opening day of India Semiconductor Association's (ISA) Vision Summit 2009! Won't know much about how others felt!!The picture here shows the ISA Vision Summit 2009 being inaugurated by the Guests of Honor, Dr. Debesh Das, Honorable Minister-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology, Government of West Bengal and Dr. Arunachalam, Chairman & Founder, Centre for Study of Science, Technology and Policy (CSTEP), Bangalore. Standing by are Jaswinder Ahuja, ISA Chairman, and Ms Poornima Shenoy, ISA President. Congrats on putting up a great show to the India Semiconductor Association, despite all the recession around us.
The opening day was largely built around sessions such as Local Products: Emerging Opportunities; Indian Design Influence: Ideas To Volumes; and Embedded Software: Its Growing Influence on the Hardware World! Yes, all of these were very interesting sessions.
However, there was no word on the Indian semicon policy, or even about India's plans to have (OR not have) a fab! There was very little about how to incubate and handhold start-ups, and help them grow bigger! And, even less about how to go about building a successful product company in India!
It is in all of these areas, I felt, that the ISA Vision Summit 2009, lacked the punch! Last year, the enthusiasm was quite evident! The Indian semicon policy had been announced in late 2007, and the fab plans looked very much in line! However, it seems, this year, no one's willing to bet on fabs, or rather, even speak about them!
One gentleman discussed my post on the possibility of an Indian investor buying Qimonda, and even cited examples of how looking at certain memory fabs in Taiwan won't be quite out of line! Yes, this is exactly the time to invest and think really big, India!
Let me also highlight a comment left on my Qimonda article on CIOL by a reader, who calls himself/herself as "The Edge". BTW, dear friend, I have not at all back-pedalled! Rather, I have been screaming hoarse, and loud enough to perhaps, land in the bad books of some industry folks :) Well, here's what "The Edge' says:
"Ed, I happened to read your blog and notice that you have already back pedalled a bit (though the outrageous comment has not provided reasons as to why he/she feels that way.) I'll provide some reasons as to why India should look to invest NOW and not two years later when the markets start to look up.
1) Fabs are shutting down or idling at the moment: In this scenario, equipment vendors will be more than happy to get rid of inventory even at huge losses so as to keep some business going.
2) Onus on product development: This is evolutionary and will come along with experience; akin to a baby crawling before it begins to walk! How about jumping into the foundry business first and playing a minor role in product development for the time being? The role and the direction of development will evolve over a period of time. Just as importantly, one has to be in total control of the full life-cycle of the product. Else, there will be that missing link/experience between optimum design and subsequent efficient manufacturing.
3) Technical know-how: Reverse brain-drain and attracting of expats to move to India is easier during the downturns, when intelligent folks might get laid off and would be available for a lot lesser (if at all) compared to the boom-times. Most importantly India has NOTHING to lose. This can be the first serious foray into the semicon manufacturing sector, if the money goes in now. NOT two years later, because by then, the set-up costs would be that much higher and personnel/partners/acquisitions would be hard and expensive to come by in a good market scenario. An early start, i.e., right away, will position the semicon manufacturing industry (along with whichever partner/acquisitions) to be ready to make full use of the next peak in the industry. That big name might well be Qimonda or maybe some other innovative company that might have been reduced to a pauper during this downturn."
This is absolutely something I agree with and am passionate about! Even though others called my post out of line, and outrageous, it does not matter. I have high hopes for the Indian semicon industry, and as I was telling an industry friend today: I will continue to write about what I think should be done!
Coming back to the ISA Vision Summit, this morning, Nandan M. Nilekani, Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Infosys Technologies Ltd, in his keynote, highlighted communication, healthcare and energy as the key domains for semiconductor industry to leverage for potential business. The solutions should be scalable and low cost. Quite rightly so! Indian solutions to solve Indian (and global) problems are the need of the hour. Nilekani touched on India's demographic dividend, which gives the country the rare advantage over the rest of the globe.
However, I wonder whether developing these solutions alone will be enough to pull the Indian semiconductor industry right to the top! A lot of people at the event wanted to hear my views, and as far as I am concerned: A lot more needs to be done!
Prof. Rajeev Gowda, IIM-Bangalore, the moderator for the opening session, Local Products: Emerging Opportunities, struck the nail on its head, when he said in his opening remarks that while Bangalore had become an IT center, it had yet to become a knowledge center. He stressed on the need to get people to think creatively and innovatively. If only, this was as simple as it seems!
Can the Indian semicon industry innovate? Or, will it find it hard to get out of the rut it seems to have run into, as far as fabs are concerned? Will it finally find some way of incubating, building and growing product companies? I am still awaiting a good answer, rather, any answer!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Will it take more time for semiconductor product manufacturing from India?
This is a continuation from my previous post on Dexcel. Here, I quizzed Ravi Gujral on the IP re-use, whether India possesses an ecosystem suitable for product development, and the importance of domain expertise.
Does India have product development ecosystem?
First, the all-important issue of whether India has an ecosystem that supports product development!
Well, this is a tricky one! Several folks, including yours truly, feel that India does not yet possess an ecosystem that can support the development of product companies locally! Here, Dexcel's views are worth an eyeball!
Gujral said: "So far, India has had the reputation of being an outsourcing hub for embedded software. Now, this trend is changing and many companies are focusing of innovation and product development from India. The Indian design houses are moving beyond simple labor-cost arbitrage and becoming significant contributors to product innovation space. Many multinational companies are doing their new design and product development from their India design center.
"The Indian domestic market is driving the product innovation like in the space of mobile segment. Having said that, there are many challenges in creating an ecosystem to develop product companies like process maturity, technical in-depth know how, domain expertise and availability of qualified resources."
Gujral expressed his gratitude toward the government of India and associations such as the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), both of whom are working toward creating the ecosystem for product development.
"I am quite positive that things will change pretty soon, but it will take more time for semiconductor product manufacturing from India," he quipped.
What are the benefits of IP re-use?
On IP re-use, Gujral listed its clear benefits. "Today's modular IPs have the potential to not only address complex functionality, configurability, and performance, but also provide a solution that allows for rapid and constant change of the design requirements. IPs have become the heavily sought after component in designs due to their re-usability, possibilities of customization and easy availability."
Hardware solutions are now implemented in programmable devices rather than using a host of ASICs. Every company would like to add some customization or special feature to distinguish their product from the competition. This can be achieved to some extent by the firmware and to a large extend by using IPs on programmable hardware such as FPGAs.
He added: "Everyone is benefited because of the one-time effort of IP development and its customization/implementation to specific applications. System-on-chip (SoC), ASSP (application specific standard products), are the most benefited candidates by IP. Design houses can also deliver solutions faster and cost effectively due to the design of only the "toppings" and not re-inventing the entire requirement."
Every company has limited resources and must focus those on their core competences to maximize the added value of those resources. IP re-use helps companies to launch product faster in the market as the time to market is critical for new product.
Importance of strong domain expertise
Given Dexcel's background, it is obvious to find out up to what extent do customers expect strong domain expertise.
Gujral said: "Yes, customers always expect us to be well versed with the domains we work in. The end solutions are mostly complex, multi-domain products/systems and hence the design sub-contractors are engaged for the sub-system domain in which they are the experts."
Competing in the embedded designs domain isn't easy, and to carve its niche, Dexcel possesses both the hardware and software skill sets under one roof, supplemented with in-house CAD, mechanical housing and other related expertise to churn-out a complete product or solution. The company keeps a complete control on the project and hence, could deliver the products of quality and performance beyond customer expectations.
The company's association with technology partners is another strong point in delivering the latest technology solutions due to early access programs of the partners.
Gujral added: "Since we are under NDAs with most of the companies whose product we design, we may not be in the position to divulge the information. Largely, I would say that our successes have come in the areas of networking, imaging and semiconductor characterization platform creation technologies."
Does India have product development ecosystem?
First, the all-important issue of whether India has an ecosystem that supports product development!
Well, this is a tricky one! Several folks, including yours truly, feel that India does not yet possess an ecosystem that can support the development of product companies locally! Here, Dexcel's views are worth an eyeball!
Gujral said: "So far, India has had the reputation of being an outsourcing hub for embedded software. Now, this trend is changing and many companies are focusing of innovation and product development from India. The Indian design houses are moving beyond simple labor-cost arbitrage and becoming significant contributors to product innovation space. Many multinational companies are doing their new design and product development from their India design center.
"The Indian domestic market is driving the product innovation like in the space of mobile segment. Having said that, there are many challenges in creating an ecosystem to develop product companies like process maturity, technical in-depth know how, domain expertise and availability of qualified resources."
Gujral expressed his gratitude toward the government of India and associations such as the India Semiconductor Association (ISA), both of whom are working toward creating the ecosystem for product development.
"I am quite positive that things will change pretty soon, but it will take more time for semiconductor product manufacturing from India," he quipped.
What are the benefits of IP re-use?
On IP re-use, Gujral listed its clear benefits. "Today's modular IPs have the potential to not only address complex functionality, configurability, and performance, but also provide a solution that allows for rapid and constant change of the design requirements. IPs have become the heavily sought after component in designs due to their re-usability, possibilities of customization and easy availability."
Hardware solutions are now implemented in programmable devices rather than using a host of ASICs. Every company would like to add some customization or special feature to distinguish their product from the competition. This can be achieved to some extent by the firmware and to a large extend by using IPs on programmable hardware such as FPGAs.
He added: "Everyone is benefited because of the one-time effort of IP development and its customization/implementation to specific applications. System-on-chip (SoC), ASSP (application specific standard products), are the most benefited candidates by IP. Design houses can also deliver solutions faster and cost effectively due to the design of only the "toppings" and not re-inventing the entire requirement."
Every company has limited resources and must focus those on their core competences to maximize the added value of those resources. IP re-use helps companies to launch product faster in the market as the time to market is critical for new product.
Importance of strong domain expertise
Given Dexcel's background, it is obvious to find out up to what extent do customers expect strong domain expertise.
Gujral said: "Yes, customers always expect us to be well versed with the domains we work in. The end solutions are mostly complex, multi-domain products/systems and hence the design sub-contractors are engaged for the sub-system domain in which they are the experts."
Competing in the embedded designs domain isn't easy, and to carve its niche, Dexcel possesses both the hardware and software skill sets under one roof, supplemented with in-house CAD, mechanical housing and other related expertise to churn-out a complete product or solution. The company keeps a complete control on the project and hence, could deliver the products of quality and performance beyond customer expectations.
The company's association with technology partners is another strong point in delivering the latest technology solutions due to early access programs of the partners.
Gujral added: "Since we are under NDAs with most of the companies whose product we design, we may not be in the position to divulge the information. Largely, I would say that our successes have come in the areas of networking, imaging and semiconductor characterization platform creation technologies."
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Dexcel on growth drivers for Indian embedded design industry
It is my endeavor to write about semiconductors, solar/PV, EDA. FPGAs, embedded, etc., and related companies and solutions via this blog. One of the pleasures of writing a semicon blog is in being able to connect with and make a whole lot of friends from different countries, cultures, and companies, as well as bloggers.
One such gentleman is Ravinder Gujral or Ravi, as he's popularly called, Director – Business Development, Dexcel Electronics Designs Pvt. Ltd. Dexcel, based very much in Bangalore, India, is among one of the emerging companies in the embedded space in the country. Ravi contacted me, like several others, via my blog! Likewise, I was elated to find myself a new friend and reader! Later, we met during Altera's SOPC event, where Dexcel was exhibiting as well.
Dexcel is an electronics design house with capabilities in embedded systems development, firmware Designs and development, DSP processors based designs, imaging software, device drivers, Linux porting, system level designs and development, application and automation software, development of audio and video codec, telecom related stacks, board designs and FPGA based digital designs services, and providing end-to-end solutions to customers.
Dexcel has an alliance and partnership with Altera (ACAP and DSP partner), and with Analog Devices (DSP collaborator), Texas Instruments (DSP third party Network Member), Actel (solution partner), Atmel (AVR 8-Bit RISC Consultants), Montavista Linux developer, etc. Quite impressive!
Estimate of Indian embedded industry
Naturally, our discussion veered toward embedded. Providing his estimate of the embedded design industry in India, Gujral said as per the survey conducted by the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and Frost & Sullivan, the projected Indian semiconductor and embedded design industry will grow from $3.25 billion in 2005 to $14.42 billion in 2010 and to $43.07 billion in 2015. The Indian design organizations are moving beyond simple labor-cost arbitrage to become true contributors to product innovation.
Going forward, it is important to keep an eye on the drivers for embedded design. The main growth drivers for embedded software in the coming period will be mobile communications, military applications, networking devices and providing more intelligence and connectivity to consumer devices.
Gujral said: "The explosion of embedded devices is made possible mainly due to the rapid growth of semiconductor chips each year, and semiconductor devices becoming faster, cheaper and less power hungry. As the Indian domestic market is growing rapidly, this growth trend will continue. Simultaneously, there are technical challenges to design such products and services, and the availability of technical qualified resources has become more important."
Localizing product designs and manufacturing
Given that India's strength has been in embedded, would the biggest growth factor for embedded come from the localization of product design and manufacturing from India?
Indeed, it is! Gujral noted: "The growth factor for embedded companies will come from localization of product design and manufacturing from India. However, we should be doing well in localization of product design, rather than in manufacturing. Indian design engineers are strong in product innovation and design processes, while on the other hand, our manufacturing ecosystem is not as competitive as China."
Going forward, India should be focused on fine tuning its design processes and best practices to become more efficient and productive, compared to counterpart in the US and Europe. "We have to develop strong domain technical knowledge to bring more innovation in product development," added Gujral.
One such gentleman is Ravinder Gujral or Ravi, as he's popularly called, Director – Business Development, Dexcel Electronics Designs Pvt. Ltd. Dexcel, based very much in Bangalore, India, is among one of the emerging companies in the embedded space in the country. Ravi contacted me, like several others, via my blog! Likewise, I was elated to find myself a new friend and reader! Later, we met during Altera's SOPC event, where Dexcel was exhibiting as well.Dexcel is an electronics design house with capabilities in embedded systems development, firmware Designs and development, DSP processors based designs, imaging software, device drivers, Linux porting, system level designs and development, application and automation software, development of audio and video codec, telecom related stacks, board designs and FPGA based digital designs services, and providing end-to-end solutions to customers.
Dexcel has an alliance and partnership with Altera (ACAP and DSP partner), and with Analog Devices (DSP collaborator), Texas Instruments (DSP third party Network Member), Actel (solution partner), Atmel (AVR 8-Bit RISC Consultants), Montavista Linux developer, etc. Quite impressive!
Estimate of Indian embedded industry
Naturally, our discussion veered toward embedded. Providing his estimate of the embedded design industry in India, Gujral said as per the survey conducted by the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and Frost & Sullivan, the projected Indian semiconductor and embedded design industry will grow from $3.25 billion in 2005 to $14.42 billion in 2010 and to $43.07 billion in 2015. The Indian design organizations are moving beyond simple labor-cost arbitrage to become true contributors to product innovation.
Going forward, it is important to keep an eye on the drivers for embedded design. The main growth drivers for embedded software in the coming period will be mobile communications, military applications, networking devices and providing more intelligence and connectivity to consumer devices.
Gujral said: "The explosion of embedded devices is made possible mainly due to the rapid growth of semiconductor chips each year, and semiconductor devices becoming faster, cheaper and less power hungry. As the Indian domestic market is growing rapidly, this growth trend will continue. Simultaneously, there are technical challenges to design such products and services, and the availability of technical qualified resources has become more important."
Localizing product designs and manufacturing
Given that India's strength has been in embedded, would the biggest growth factor for embedded come from the localization of product design and manufacturing from India?
Indeed, it is! Gujral noted: "The growth factor for embedded companies will come from localization of product design and manufacturing from India. However, we should be doing well in localization of product design, rather than in manufacturing. Indian design engineers are strong in product innovation and design processes, while on the other hand, our manufacturing ecosystem is not as competitive as China."
Going forward, India should be focused on fine tuning its design processes and best practices to become more efficient and productive, compared to counterpart in the US and Europe. "We have to develop strong domain technical knowledge to bring more innovation in product development," added Gujral.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Indian semiconductor market to reach $7.59bn by 2010!
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Folks, here's the full report on the India Semiconductor Association - Frost & Sullivan study on the Indian semiconductor industry. I've already provided my views on the Indian semiconductor industry report in an earlier post, for those who would like to know more.First, the findings:
• The Total Semiconductor Market (TM) revenues poised to grow from $5.9 billion in 2008 to $7.59 billion in 2010. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 13.4 percent.
• The corresponding period is likely to witness a CAGR of 13.1 percent in the Total Semiconductor Available Market (TAM). TAM revenues is anticipated to climb to $3.24 billion in 2010 from $2.53 in 2008.
The following chart details how the Indian semiconductor industry is likely to shape up till 2010. All values are in US $ billion.According to the study:
• Memory and MPU are the leaders in the TM and TAM revenues, respectively.
• IT/OA, wireless handsets and communications are the top three contributors to the TM revenues.
• IT/OA, wireless handsets and consumer are the mainstay of TAM revenue generation.
• Greater affordability of notebooks, netbooks, government IT initiatives, increased usage of memory cards to drive TM revenues from IT/OA. Ratio of desktops to notebooks reduces to 1:5
• Emphasis on rural mobile telephony and decline in handset pricesto drive demand; economically priced handsets in GSM and CDMA to witness higher growth. Mid priced handset segment, with enhanced features, to benefit.
• Rollout of 3G and WiMAX services to act as harbinger of associated infrastructure equipment TM. SDH 64 to increasingly replace SDH 4 and SDH 16. Increased manufacturing expected to favor TAM revenues.
• Evolving lifestyle expected to assist consumer electronics related semiconductor TM. DTH revolution creates demand for STB like never before. The market is expected to sustain as technology upgrades from MPEG2 to MPEG4.
• Projects like national ID cards, bank cards and kisan cards are likely to favor the semiconductor usage in emerging segment of smart cards.
• Low manufacturing index leads to opportunity loss of $3.37 billion semiconductor market revenues. This loss anticipated to increase to $4.35 billion by 2010.
• Immense, yet untapped, opportunities exist for semiconductors in STBs, LCD TVs, digital cameras and storage Flash memory markets.
• Decline in semiconductor product prices result in lower revenue realization; key semiconductor products impacted are memory, MCU and discrete. Increase in memory usage in a variety of products to offset revenue loss on accountof decline in prices.
• Increased usage of system-on-chip (SoC) leads to decline in the overall revenues. Though the decline is not proportionate to the reduction of components, the impact is significant.
• Higher penetration of notebooks to impact market for desktops and offline UPS
• Current slowdown to impact overall growth and manufacturing investment prospects for 2009; uncertainty in government decision-making adversely affects growth.
Some of the other forecasts of the report indicate that India will likely improve its share to 2.8 percent of the global semiconductor market by 2010. Also, the India market CAGR forecast is at 6.4 times the global market CAGR, over next two years !
Again, do not get carried away by these statistics!
Further, in an update to the 2007 forecast, the previous study had non-inclusion of select products segments such as digital cameras, power supplies, CFL, CCTV, PoS, Weighing Scale, etc., which have been now added. This update sees the entry of new players and an unprecedented expansion of the DTH market. Migration of select products manufacturing outside the country has also taken place.
The total TM and TAM revenue constituents (2008) are: TM revenues: $5,901.8 million; and TAM revenues: $2,531.8 million. Now, for the segment wise break-ups and segment drivers, respectively.
IT/OA semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $2,503.4 million; TAM revenues: $1,161.3 million.
* Notebooks, desktops and servers were the key contributors to the MPU, memory and ASSP TM revenues.
* Desktops are key revenue generators for MPU TAM revenues.
* CAGR for IT/OA is TM at 13.5 percent and TAM at 7.4 percent for 2008-10.
* Key drivers for TM are government IT initiatives, low priced notebooks, netbooks and storage flash memory; while low priced desktops and LCD monitors are the drivers for TAM.
Wireless handsets semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $1,738.3 million; TAM revenues: $791 million.
* DSP and ASSP to ride on growth of economically priced handsets in GSM and CDMA.
* Smartphones in GSM to drive growth of TM revenues for memory, DSP and ASSP.
* CAGR for wireless handsets is TM at 5.7 percent and TAM at 5.1 percent for 2008-10.
* Key drivers for TM and TAM include GSM handsets priced <$125 and between $125-250, as well as CDMA handsets priced <$125. For TM, GSM handsets priced >$250 is the key driver.
Communications semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $754 million; TAM Revenues: $153.9 million.
* WiMAX BTS is the driver for ASIC market.
* Infrastructure equipment like WiMAX and STM were the key factors behind analog power's TM and TAM revenues.
* Logic/FPGA rode on the STM and BTS markets.
* Low manufacturing index conspicuous in this key segment.
* CAGR for communications is TM at 27.9 percent and TAM at 64.1 percent for 2008-10.
* Key drivers for TM and TAM include the rollout of 3G, WiMAX and penetration of broadband services. For TAM, BTS, STM and WiMAX are the major drivers.
Consumer semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $432.9 million; TAM revenues: $165.6 million.
* ASSP market growth on account of penetration of LCD into CRT TVs, STBs and DVD players.
* Low manufacturing index indicates lost opportunity for semiconductor revenues.
* CAGR for consumer equipment is TM at 12.2 percent and TAM at 18.7 percent for 2008-10.
* Key drivers for TM include STBs, LCD TVs and digital cameras, while those for TAM include STBs, LCD TVs and water purifiers.
Industrial semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $144.9 million; TAM revenues: $106.7 million.
* Energy meters, UPS and weighing scales are the contributors to the MCUs.
* Discrete and analog power are omnipresent products across applications.
* CAGR for industrial electronics segment is TM at 12.5 percent and TAM at 14.9 percent for the period 2008-10.
* Key drivers for TM include online UPS, CFL, energy meters and power supplies. Those for TAM include energy meters, CFL and power supplies.
Automotive semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $76.5 million; TAM revenues: $50.8 million.
* The MCU market has high dependence on the EMS and body electronics markets
* The Nano car, statutory regulations on emission norms, and safety features are likely to sustain demand.
* CAGR for automotive electronics is TM at 23.1 percent and TAM at 24.8 percent.
* Key drivers include two-wheeler instrument clusters, EMS and immobilizers.
Other electronics semiconductor constituents (2008)
TM revenues: $251.7 million; TAM revenues: $102.5 million.
* Applications like smart cards, and aerospace and defence are driving the ASSP TM and TAM revenues, respectively.
* CAGR for this segment is TM at 16.8 percent and TAM at 23.8 percent.
* Smart cards and government space research programs are the key drivers.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Why solar/PV is good for India? An ISA perspective!
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Recently, the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) held an educative briefing session on the potential of the solar PV market in India, which was conducted by Rajiv Jain, Director, Government Relations, ISA.This meeting was held well before iSuppli issued a warning that there could be global solar sunburn in 2009! I am sincerely hoping that most of the points mentioned by ISA's Jain still hold good in the coming year, and that India really does well and takes off in solar photovoltaics.
The ISA's vision: To help make India an attractive global destination for PV manufacturing and a world leader in solar energy.
Starting with the basics of photovoltaics, he said that it is a package of solar cells used to convert energy from sun to electricity. In simpler words, photons from sunlight knock electrons into higher state of energy, thus creating electricity. The electricity can be used to power equipment or recharge a battery. A typical PV system mainly consists of a PV module, battery, inverter, controller and junction box.
Focusing on the technological landscape, he touched upon the two key technologies for solar: crystalline and thin film.
Crystalline silicon is said to be the most mature Si wafer technology, with the largest market share. Though, high on cost, it has a typical efficieny of 14-18 percent. Crystalline silicon is said to suitable for rooftop applications.
Thin film is nothing but thin layers of photosensitive materials on glass. It is currently on high growth due to silicon shortage, and very low on cost due to low material consumption. The efficiency is about 6.5-8 percent.
A third technology, nanotechnology, is the future technology for cost reduction. It is more in the R&D space as of now.
Present scenario for solar
So what's the present scenario? In 2007, of $71 billion invested in new renewable energy (RE) capacity globally, 30 percent was in solar PV. It is the fastest growing area in the energy sector, with a CAGR of 47 percent over the last five years.
Grid-connected solar PV has been high growth market segment in 2007 (50 percent increase). Also, 86 percent of the PV installations are largely in four countries, with Germany at 47 percent being the outright leader.
Market drivers are said to be attractive feed-in tariffs, national PV market development and acceptance, RE obligations through solar PV, access to cheaper mode of finance, manufacturing incentives as well as strong R&D.
Why solar for India
I have addressed this in an earlier blog post. Here's what Jain had to say, and it is mostly in line with the earlier discussions.
First, India has among the highest solar irradiance globally. It also has the best quality reserves of silica in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. India has also established itself low cost producer and assembler of solar PV cells and modules.
The major challenges include attaining scale and integration for cost reduction, and, R&D for development of the industry.
Solar insolation in India
To start with, the daily average solar energy incident varies from 4-7kWh per m2. Next, we have multiple sites with solar irradiation >2000 hours per year. In contrast, Germany has 900-1,200 hours per year. Further, most parts of India have 300-300 sunny days in a year translating into a potential of 600GW. Also, potential in some states like Rajasthan is 35-40 MW per m2.
It is well known that the Indian semiconductor policy of 2007 has triggered off the now well publicized efforts in solar initiatives. The government of India has received 16 applications with investments envisaged at app Rs. 1,55,000 crores.
The investments in solar PV manufacturing exceed Rs 1,25,000 crores. Generation based incentives (GBI) are going to be key.
Potential market segments in India
There are quite a few, actually. In rural electrification, the government of India's target is to achieve 'Electricity for all by 2012'. About 18,000 remote villages will likely be electrified through RE. About ~25 percent of the remote villages, i.e., 4,500 villages, form a very viable market.
Next comes telecom back-up power! PV is a cost effective alternative to diesel generators (DG) for back up power for shorter duration, as DG based systems suffer from several disadvantages.
Another key market could be grid connected solar PV based generation. Current tariffs do not provide attractive IRR to developers. Decreasing system prices are however, likely to improve the economics.
Finally, roof based BIPV is said to be an alternative to reduce the cost of power procured by commercial buildings.
ISA's recommendations
The ISA has also made salient recommendations via its report on the industry. These include areas such as manufacturing: with an aim to encourage companies investing in 'Scale and integration', provision of capital subsidy to larger number of units, availability of funds at a cheaper rate, and an emphasis on R&D.
Also, the ISA has recommended that GBI be given for a tenure of 20 years, with the present period being 10 years. Further, it has suggested an accelerated depreciation along with the GBI scheme, and the availability of GBI for an unlimited capacity for a period of five years. The ISA has recommended an enactment of the RE Law requiring utilities to progressively increase power purchase from RE.
On its part, the ISA has been working with the government of India and various state governments as well. It has a sound rapport with concerned ministries - MNRE, DIT and NMCC.
The ISA has also assisted in the technical evaluation of solar PV proposals received in Fab City, Hyderabad. It has also drafted a semiconductor policy for the government of Karnataka, which should be out early next year, hopefully. The ISA is also working with several other state governments to promote the industry in their states.
The second ISA Solar PV Conclave is scheduled for November 2009 at Hyderabad.
Very good intentions, all of these! Now, for the Indian industry and the government to deliver, and walk hand in hand!!
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