CIOL: What was the overall size of the global semicon industry in FY 2006-07?

Ganesh Guruswamy: The semiconductor sales hit an all-time high in 2006, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached US $247.7 billion last year, an increase of 8.9 percent from the US $227.5 billion reported in 2005.

The reasons for these were: favorable economic conditions in the major world markets have contributed to growth of semiconductor sales and worldwide sales in December 2006 were US $21.7 billion, an increase of 9 percent from December 2005 when sales were $20 billion. (Source: Semiconductor Industry Association)

CIOL: What would you highlight as the key drivers for the segment?

GG: Growing consumerism and need for better and improved products has led to innovation in chip designs. Penetration of wireless technology for communication in rural and urban India has led to the surge of low-cost mobile handsets. As per the estimate by TRAI, by the end of 2012, 650 million phone connections will be in place. Of this, 66 million will be wired connections and 584 million wireless. To cater to this burgeoning market, many companies have set up production facilities.

We are witnessing applications across all segments, including IT, automotive and industrial electronics segments. However, consumer electronics, communication and wireless applications seems to be the major growth drivers for the industry.

CIOL: What other trends are visible across the segment, especially from an Indian context?

GG: The trend of innovative chip design from India powering futuristic products globally is definitely expected to thrive. India's competencies lie in SoC and embedded design.

As the number of 'design starts' and key R&D contributions from India increase, we will emerge as a major design centre for integrated circuits (ICs); field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and systems-on-chips (SoCs).

Another trend will be semiconductor and embedded products designed for India, by Indian R&D centers. As electronics consumption and production in India grows, designs that power these local products will be a key focus area.

Miniaturization, increased functionality and high-performance are driving consumer demand for electronic devices today. The focus of design companies is to provide power efficient designs in small geometries. The consumer electronics and wireless sectors are key as these markets account for a large share of the semiconductors in use today.

CIOL: How do you view the recent developments in the country w.r.t. semiconductors, VLSI, etc.?

GG: The Indian government announced the cabinet approval of the special incentive package of the Department of IT, to attract investments in semiconductor and allied hi-tech manufacturing on February 22.

Incentives are applicable to the manufacture of semiconductor products; various display technologies including LCDs, OLEDs, plasma display panels and other emerging display technologies, including storage devices, solar cells, photovoltaics, other advanced micro and nano technology products, and assembly and test.