NEW DELHI: In a big push to govt’s semiconductor localisation plans, Taiwan’s top chip design company MediaTek has said it will ramp up hirings in India as the company gained market leadership in supplies to smartphone makers, while it expands its business in automobiles, computing, connected, 5G, and internet-of-things (IoT).
The company will hire more engineers and designers in India to work on global chips as it moved ahead of American Qualcomm in supplying to smartphone makers in the country for their budget as well as premium devices (according to data from Counterpoint), India MD Anku Jain and global VP for corporate marketing Finbarr Moynihan told TOI.
“There are a lot of exciting opportunities that we see in India. First and foremost are smartphones. We’re going through a massive 4G to 5G transition. It’s happening very quickly here,” Finbarr said.
He said while the smartphone market may be plateauing globally with buyers opting for feature-rich sophisticated devices, the selling prices have gone up, leading to increased demand for chips. “The volume of smartphones is not increasing every year. It’s staying relatively flat, at about 1.2 billion globally. What’s happening is that the value is increasing globally. So, people are buying higher-end phones more than they did in the past. In general, they’re probably keeping them for longer. So, they’re like future-proofing them. It’s driving the value up, which is, of course, trickling down to the semiconductor side in that they’re choosing higher-end chips with more capability. Not just going from 4G to 5G, but going from like mainstream to medium to high-end chips. That’s an opportunity.”

Finbarr said that MediaTek has a “large” R&D team in India, which is developing different technology sets, computing, connectivity, and software for many years. “That’s contributing to our global platforms and, clearly, that’s important… The amount of consumer electronics devices, cars, automotive platforms, IoT devices that are going to be designed here, built here, and sold here, is only going to increase.”
Jain said that India’s “engineering talent is extremely important” for MediaTek. “India is one of those rare countries which has a combination of English-speaking skills, and good engineering. This is unique, and not many countries can boast of this. Right now, we have over 1,000 engineers in India across three sites – Bangalore, Noida, and Mumbai. Definitely, it’s growing. And we have a clear indication from our HQs that we have to find more talent here.”
Jain said the Indian teams are engaged in software and hardware design, while working on the life cycle of chips. “It’s quite elaborate,” he said, adding that engineers here are good in analytical skills, mathematics, computer science and electronics. “Around 90% of our talent here is for global R&D as they work on worldwide products, chip design and so on. The rest are for local support.”