The Hindu Business Line : Conexant to make India design base

CONEXANT Systems Inc, a Nasdaq-listed fabless semiconductor company, has announced plans $250-million expansion that would make India its design base.

The Chairman of Conexant, Mr Dwight W. Decker, said, "Our product development operations in India are a focal point to leverage lower-cost offshore resources. This strategic move will enhance productivity and help develop an ongoing source of competitive advantage."

Addressing a press conference on the eve of International Conference of VLSI, Mr Decker said the company investments would be spread over a five-year time frame and cover payroll, capital equipment, and research and development (R&D) facilities. While Conexant currently operates out of four centres in India — Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Noida, it will make Hyderabad its base for expansion.

"We are also in the process of finalising plans for a R&D campus that would host about 1,000 people and are negotiating with the State Government for land," he said.

"While India will become a key component of all R&D work for Conexant, we plan to build a foundation for future growth. Over the next few years, the engineering team in India would account for about 50 per cent of Conexant total strength," he said.

"In less than two years, we have grown to about 775 people, and expect to scale up to about 1,200 people by the end of 2006 and to 2,000 in next couple of years. This growth is strategic given the advantage Indian technologists bring to the company. We expect to save about 50 per cent in overall development costs," he added.