Intel has unveiled plans to expand its research and development
efforts in India and increase the number of employees it has in
India from the current 1,000 to around 3,000 over the next few
years.
The investment required for this expansion will be about $100m
(£64m), chief executive Craig Barrett said. "These plans are
contingent on some form of economic recovery in the hi-tech
industry," he added.
Most of the new staff will work at Intel's Development Center in
Bangalore where Intel currently employs about 900 developers. The
announcement by Barrett that Intel is beefing up engineering
resources in India, after an announcement in July that it was
trimming its workforce worldwide by 40,000 people in the second
half of 2002, suggests that the company is shifting some of its
R&D from the USA to India which is a lower cost location,
according to analysts. Intel also announced in July that R&D
spending for 2002 is expected to be approximately $4bn (£2.6bn),
lower than the previous expectation of $4.1bn.
Intel's India Development Center in Bangalore has emerged as a
design hub for Intel's new business offering ASIC
(application-specific integrated circuit) design services to
customers, according to Manni Kantipudi, director and site manager
of the centre. Intel announced in September last year that it was
setting up a new ASIC business, called Intel Microelectronics
Services (IMS), focused on the design of networking and
communications chips for customers.
The India Development Center is also working with Intel's other
business groups such as the networking and communications group and
the microprocessor group. Software & Silicon Systems, an Intel
company in Bangalore, has designed some of Intel's new network
chips, including the IXE2424, a network switch on a chip.
The India Development Center is also working on Intel's internal
information systems including supply chain applications, sales and
marketing applications, finance and enterprise services, and
enterprise business computing.
Like other multinational semiconductor companies that have
integrated circuit design or software development centres in India,
Intel too has shied away from investing in chip fabrication in the
country.
"There is no thinking on setting up of any manufacturing facility
in India at least at the moment," Barrett said.
Although Intel will continue to invest in countries it had earlier
identified as "hotbeds of activity", and where it has either
manufacturing or design or both, such as Israel, India, and
Ireland, Intel expects to make large investments in Russia and
China as well.
"I should point out that Russia and China are equal candidates for
our investment going forward, and probably will see the greatest
percentage growth in our investments," Barrett said. "China from a
combination of engineering and manufacturing and Russia primarily
from an engineering standpoint."
Other Intel sites in Malaysia, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and the
USA will however continue to play a significant role in Intel's
growth, Barrett added.