Intellectual property a promising area for India

India has been eagerly looking for investment in Semiconductor segment. ON Semiconductor is a supplier of silicon solutions for energy-efficient electronics. M. K. Mak, regional vice president of distribution, sales and marketing operations, ON Semiconductor in a recent interaction with Prasoon Srivastava of CIOL discussed the way India should move ahead in developing eco-system for setting up wafer fab facility in the country. Mak also discussed the engagement of his company in India.

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A couple of days back, ON Semi announced $15.7 million investment for expansion of production facility in Idaho, US. Indian government has been willingly looking for investment to establishing wafer fab in India and ready to tailor policy for such investment. Why has India not been able to see investment of this kind from wafer fab companies despite being pro-active?

We probably should ask what India wants to accomplish first as far as its semiconductor industry is concerned. If the end in mind is to catch up with the technological advancement and participate actively in the business development, there are many other ways to engage in the market based on India’s own strengths.

And, in business world, we always play with our strengths. For India, there are strong technical and creative talents, backed by its world-class education. Intellectual property (IP) is indeed a very good and promising area for India to focus on and invest in such as silicon design, material and process engineering research, circuit design, just to name a few.

To invest in wafer fabs, it is more than just an investment for a single manufacturing facility but the entire eco-system for semiconductor manufacturing for both internal and external infrastructure such as stable water and electricity supplies, efficient logistic networks, experienced and knowledgeable workforce and high quality suppliers. These must be put in place as pre-requisites for a wafer fab to be successful in India.

How would you rate your Bangalore design centre’s contribution to company’s overall growth since the time it was established?

This world-class team works closely with our colleagues around the globe to come up with innovative products and solutions successfully for our customers.

India is considered second largest cellphone market and off late it has made its name known automotive segment. What are the opportunities you see in these segments for your company in India?

As you know, ON Semiconductor is very strong in these segments with complete product offerings for these applications. We are helping local customers in India with our proven knowledge and experience acquired from other parts of the world as well as trying to understand their unique requirements to customize suitable solutions and products for them.

At the moment, India still imports a large portion of their mobile phones from overseas while we are seeing more and more customers stepping up their manufacturing and design capabilities for automotive applications in India. We have our products serving core applications including ignition, engine management, lighting, dashboard instrumentation and safety, in vehicles manufactured by top automotive brands in India.

On Semi has presence in various other segments. Of all the segments that On Semi is present, which are the top three categories that contributes maximum to On Semi’s global revenue from Indian market?

Power management applications such as energy meters, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), inverters etc. are our strengths in India, capitalizing on our global market leadership. We also see automotive and LED lighting as our major growth drivers in India.

What kind of growth On Semi sees for the company from LED products in Indian market?

We clearly see robust growth in the LED lighting industry in India and believe this trend will continue even at an accelerated pace. LED Lighting has many different applications and it is difficult to have an accurate market forecast. There are different sources of the market forecast in the next few years. The general consensus is that it is at least 40 percent growth through 2016.

Do you have any plans to open centre of excellence in India where people can experience products build around On Semi’s semiconductor?

Our world is very well Internet-connected nowadays and we should think beyond physical locations. Hence, we put in a lot of efforts to enhance our website to make the information of our products, solutions and technical support easily accessible to our customers. Our recently introduced GreenPoint online interactive design simulation tool assists design engineers to accelerate the board design of solid state lighting solutions.

Which are the main focus areas for On Semi in India market? What kind of activities we may expect to see from On Semi to build on these focus area?

With our strong experience and broad expertise, we help our customers efficiently solve their design challenges in automotive, communications, computing, consumer, industrial, LED lighting, medical, military/aerospace and power applications.

Being a premier supplier of high performance silicon solutions for energy efficient electronics, ON Semiconductor offers a broad portfolio of power and signal management, logic, discrete and custom devices to customers around the world. It is no exception for India, a significant emerging market with such marvelous potentials. We believe we can work closely with our customers here to make the world ‘greener’ as the country prospers on the stunning economic developments.

We have been working with our customers closely on important and strategic product developments for automotive applications. We have many products in production and in pipeline in LED lighting, power management applications and so on.

According to ISA Frost and Sullivan report, Indian semiconductor market is expected cross $8.04 billion by end of 2011. What place can we see of On Semi in this growth story of Indian semiconductor market?

You can see ON Semiconductor bringing products and solutions that enhance the growth of energy efficient electronics in all the segments that we are present in.