Freescale eyes India, China for growth

Freescale, the two-year-old $6.4-billion semiconductor company, spun off from Motorola, is eyeing India and China for growth with the two countries witnessing tremendous boom in consumer and automotive electronics.

The company designs and produces embedded chips for industry verticals. At present, the Asia Pacific region accounts for 47 per cent of Freescale's revenues.

"In the coming years, we expect both India and China to drive the growth. The focus is on these two countries across all industrial and consumer verticals," Janelle Monney, Senior Vice-president (Business Operation), Freescale, told Business Standard.

Freescale will focus on consumer and industrial markets by leveraging its analog technology for integrated solutions. "We are strengthening our core businesses by leveraging our expertise and increasing our share in India and China. We are also expanding our sensor portfolio for portable consumer applications," she added.

She pointed out that the demand for consumer electronics, including appliances, mobile phones, automotive electronics and networking was on the rise in India and China. "Besides, India has emerged as the most attractive of investment destinations in the world. With an annual return of over 38 per cent, India is the second highest wealth creator in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) emerging economies. We see opportunities for growth here," he said.

Another area of focus for the company is the energy meters. "India is witnessing the fastest growth in energy consumption due to population and economic growth. New smart energy meters using our micro-controllers enable two-way power flows. Consumers with solar or wind power generation will be eligible for credit based on the energy they generate," Monney said.

The US-based Freescale, bought by private equity investors led by the Blackstone group and the Carlyle for $17.6 billion last year, has increased investment in R&D to $1.2 billion and increased its chip manufacturing capacity by investing $700 million in its six wafer fab facilities this calendar year.

Its India operations include a design centre at Noida and a software development centre in Bangalore. The India Design Centre in Noida is the company's largest outside the US. The company employs about 1,000 engineers and caters to Indian and MNC firms. The Indian Design Centre has filed about 30 patents in the last two years.