Indian centre at cutting edge

Philips Semiconductors today said that its R&D team in Bangalore is working on the cutting-edge 65 nanometer system-on-chip (SoC) designs, libraries and IP modules and is investing heavily in 'Nexperia Home', an applications processor for smart phones.

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter and the measure indicates the thickness of the wafer in a chip or microprocessor. Though Indian chip design capabilities are at the cutting edge, Philips reiterated it had no plans to make chips in India, that is set up a fab or fabricator. The semiconductor industry space in India is still "modest" and has a growth rate of 6-7 per cent.

"Nexperia is a scalable platform and combines our expertise in system integration, RF design, low power consumption and advanced multimedia. It comes at a price of less than $25 and has a good market in China," said Frans Van Houten, CEO, Philips Semiconductors.

He added that the company is working on a low cost mobile phone which will be priced at $20 and will be launched in India by next year.

In the coming years, the company aims to focus more on mobile telephony, digital equipment and the automotive industry in India.

The company also plans to introduce set top box solutions which will bring in internet based applications.

Also on the horizon is radio frequency based smart card technology in the national ID cards project.

Philips Semiconductors has a 35 per cent sales in the communications segment which includes GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) and 3G mobile platforms.

The company also has a 50 per cent market share of the television reception segment in the PC space.