NEC Electronics targets Rs 74 cr sales in India

With the consumption of electronics goods in the domestic market expected to go up significantly over the next two years, NEC Electronics, a provider of system-on-chip (SoC), microcontroller, and discrete semiconductor solutions, has opened its first liaison office in India to tap the market.

The company has set a local sales target of Rs 74 crore ($18.7 million) and Rs 370 crore ($94 million) in new designs to global operations based in India by 2010-11.

NEC Electronics will offer technical assistance and advanced design support for global with operations in the region, and facilitate implementation of NEC Electronics' devices by local businesses.

The office, based in Bangalore, will also offer technical assistance and product information to design houses of the company's global customers operating in India in consumer electronics, automotive and industrial systems.

"Bangalore has become one of the world's major hubs for technology and development, and India is home to the fastest-growing semiconductor market in Asia. The establishment of this liaison office underscores NEC Electronics' commitment to our local and global customers in this rapidly-growing market," said NEC Electronics President & CEO Toshio Nakajima said on Wednesday.

NEC Electronics India head Krishnan Neelakantan said the company will set up a network of third-party sales representatives and hardware, and software design firms to increase the marketshare in India.

"Revenue from providing design support to global customers will be indirect as the billing will be done by our parent in Japan," he added.

According to a study by the India Semiconductor Association ô Frost & Sullivan, the electronics goods consumption in India has been growing in double digits (10-12 per cent) annually since 2003 as against 6-8 per cent worldwide.

The market for electronics goods in the sub-continent is expected to grow to $350 billion by 2015 from $150 billion in 2010, the study said.

Toshio said the company will promote (All Flash) microcontrollers for home appliances, automotive electronics and motorcycles, power management devices for uninterruptible power supply (UPS) battery systems and energy meters and EMMA (electronics miniaturisation for mobile applications) solutions for set-top-boxes.

Headquartered in Kawasaki, Japan, NEC Electronics (semiconductor business) was hived off from NEC Corporation in 2002 and went public in July 2003 for listing separately on Tokyo Stock Exchange.

It has sales and manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe and across Asia, employing about 24,000 people. It recorded sales of $5.9 billion in 2007.