Synplicity expands R&D operations

Synplicity, a provider of integrated circuit design and verification solutions to the semiconductor sector, has expanded its research and development operations in India.

Located in Bangalore, it has emerged as the second largest R&D centre for the company in the world.

Synplicity India team now constitutes one-third of the organisation's worldwide R&D strength of 150. The company's other R&D centres are located in Sunnyvale (US), Ankara (Turkey), Montepellier and Lund (both in Sweden).

"We will sharpen focus on India. We expect India to contribute 50 per cent of the R&D within the next four years. We also intend to increase the headcount in India by 30 per cent by the end of 2008," Synplicity CEO & President Gary Meyers said.

The Bangalore R&D centre works on-field programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation solutions, application specific integrated circuit (ASIC platforms and electronic system level (ESL) synthesis, all relating to semiconductors.

The $62.5 million company derives 45 per cent of its revenues from North America while Asia, excluding Japan, accounts for 27 per cent. Europe generates 16 per cent revenue.

According to Gartner Dataquest's report on 'Design Trends and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools: Asia-Pacific 2006', Synplicity is ranked fourth among the electronic design automation (EDA) tool providers in Asia.

Synplicity is bullish on the Indian semiconductor market. "It generates 5 per cent revenue, up from 3.5 per cent last year. We expect Indian contribution to increase with electronic equipment consumption set to rise," Meyers said.

According to Synplicity India MD H V Ananda, the Indian EDA product market is expected to grow to $1 billion by 2015.

"With India's strong base in chip designing, the EDA industry has tremendous growth potential in the country. We will continue to expand our operations to leverage this market opportunity," Ananda added.