Wipro leads India-based VLSI design business: CyberMedia Research

29th March 2012
Wipro leads India-based VLSI design business: CyberMedia Research

Bangalore, March 29 2012 : VLSI Design Services in India have matured into a  $ 1.25 billion industry -- or 14% of the overall India Semiconductor industry in 2011. Captive design centres -- that is design houses working for one player – account for the largest chunk -- close to 70% -- of total revenues. When heads are counted, the India-based VLSI design services industry comprises approximately 70 firms designing chips for various customers within the large volume segments of Consumer Electronics, Networking and Telecoms, besides niche areas like Healthcare.

These are the key findings of the India VLSI Design Services Study 2012 carried out by CyberMedia Research (CMR).
Says Anirban Banerjee, Associate Vice President, Research and Advisory Services, CyberMedia Research: "Indian design engineers, whether serving in captive or third party design companies, have exhibited depth of experience and a range of skills by taping out some of the world's best chips that are used in several devices and gadgets we use in our daily lives… so it is not surprising to see that Indian

Adds Faisal Kawoosa, Senior Manager, Research & Consulting, Semiconductor & Electronics Practice at CMR: "The fluidity, skills refresh rate and very high quality of the product output has ensured continuous streams of revenues and clients for India's third party VLSI design services firms. Companies offering these specialized services have not only kept pace with the latest technologies and tools used in the chip industry, but also matched the fast changing requirements of the end markets they serve."

The India third-party VLSI design services industry revenues were estimated at US$ 375 million in 2011. Wipro Technologies led the industry with over 22% share while SmartPlay Technologies and Sasken Communications comprised the other companies that made it to the top 3 in terms of revenues earned. Collectively the top 3 companies constituted 30.1% of total India third party VLSI design services revenues for 2011.

The India semiconductor sector employs over 163,000 engineers of which an estimated 20,580 serving the VLSI Design Services industry directly. Cumulatively, these 20,000+ engineers worked on a total of 4,150 projects in 2011, from clients spread across North America, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world. North America based clients constituted 64.5% of the projects for the VLSI Design Services companies in India during 2011.

On the technology front, Indian companies have designed chips on a 28 nm scale that have already been successfully taped out. In 2012, it is expected that 22 nm scale chips designed in India will also be taped out to hit markets across the world. Further, it is expected that Indian companies will graduate to 3D chip designing in the forthcoming quarters. By 2013, CyberMedia Research expects the overall number of VLSI Design Services companies in India to surpass 100. This fast increase in the number of design companies would be propelled by factors like increased availability of venture capital funding, success stories of the present crop of companies and the rising entrepreneurial instincts of engineers serving the industry for the past 15 years.

http://www.cybermediaresearch.co.in  or http://www.cmrindia.com