Rohm Semiconductor expects over 30 pc growth in India in FY18

Japanese electronic company Rohm Semiconductor expects to register over 30 per cent growth in India business this fiscal on account of increase in demand from automotive and industrial segments, a top official of the firm said.
"In last 2-3 years, Rohm Semiconductor has seen growth of 20-30 per cent year-on-year. This financial year we expect over 30 per cent growth in our India business," Rohm Semiconductor Managing Director Daisuke Nakamura told PTI.
The company specialises in making electronic chips or semiconductors for power management in electronic products.
Rohm Semiconductor has its own electronic chip making plants in Japan, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia but has no plans to set-up any manufacturing unit in India as demand in the country is very low.

"We expect pick up of business in mobile segment but at present all mobile companies are importing PCBs (printed circuit board or the motherboard) from abroad," Nakamura said.
Rohm has set a target of getting 20 per cent of its business in India from the mobile phone segment.

"The ratio of contribution from automotive and industrial will come down but their overall contribution in our India sales will increase," Nakamura said.
At present, automotive segment contributes 50-60 per cent to Rohm's India sales, followed by industrial and consumer segments. By 2020, it expects automotive segment to contribute 35 per cent to its over all business in India, consumer segment 30 per cent, mobile 20 per cent and industrial 15 per cent.

"We are in talks with ceiling fan makers in India. If they convert their motor from AC (alternate current) to DC (direct current), it will reduce energy consumption by up to 50 per cent. It is a big opportunity in India. Rohm is working to resolve issues that they are facing," Nakamura said.
The company has started customising its electronic chips to meet requirement of India market at its Bengaluru-based design centre.
"We have started customising some of our products to meet the need of Indian consumers. Going forward we will add more products in to it especially those required in automotive and two-wheeler segment," Nakamura said.

The company has around 30 engineers at its Bengaluru centre and plans in increase headcount by one-and-half times in the next two years, he said.