Top 5 semiconductor trends in India during 2008

And what's in store for the Indian semiconductor industry during 2008? Well, expect the Indian semiconductor to grow at 25-35 percent in the coming year!

S. Janakiraman, president and CEO –- R&D Services, Mindtree Consulting, and chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA), said at a recent meeting that those questioning India's need for fabs would feel terrible on missing out on the opportunities currently being provided by India, by 2015.

Here are the top five trends you can get to see happening in India in the semiconductor space in 2008.

1. More growth for India

The Indian semiconductor industry has been forecasted to grow by 25-35 percent during 2008 by the ISA.

2. Increase in design activities

On the design side, we are seeing an increase in various activities. More complex analog and digital designs are happening. More of physical designs are happening, including taking those designs up to the foundries – those are also increasing.

3. More of ATMP initially

In 2008, we will be seeing more of the assembly, testing, marking and assembly (ATMP) happening in the country.

4. Fabs some time away

The fundamental fabs are still a little far away. Most companies likely to start off by initially testing waters by making some level of investments in ATMP before moving on to fabs. One cannot rule out prospect of some leading Indian company investing in fabs.

5. Product companies will emerge eventually

Product companies are likely to emerge, although, they may start off by first manufacturing electronics products, and later move on to the emergence of semiconductor product companies.