Synaptics, a human interface hardware and software developer, plans to double its Indian workforce in the next 24 months, according to Michael Hurlston, CEO of Synaptics. Currently, it employs 200 engineers in India.
“Our R&D footprint in India is expected to double over the next 24 months to 400 people. In India, at this point, the spending would represent over 20 per cent of our total R&D budget,” said Hurlston. The company says it invests $100 million in R&D each year.
Synaptics has shifted its focus from mobile-centric products to the Internet of Things (IoT) products. “From an investor standpoint, IoT has value because it’s traditionally considered stickier, meaning it’s got a longer life,” said the CEO. In Q4FY22, it earned $476 million in revenue, with its IoT business accounting for 70 per cent of that total.
Comittment to Indian market
The company said that it is committed to the Indian market as it has an abundant supply of engineering talent and wants to make India an end-to-end design base for its wireless segment under IoT. Hurlston told BusinessLine, “Every semiconductor company now has a big footprint in India. To differentiate ourselves, we came up with a self-serving plan.”
It manufactures products such as touchpads for computer laptops; touch, display driver, and fingerprint biometrics technology for smartphones; and touch, video, and far-field voice technology for smart home devices and automotive applications.
Synaptics India began operations in 2013 through an acquisition in Hyderabad. In 2017, the US-based company started its operations in Bangalore with the Marvell Multimedia team (Marvell Technology) and expanded in Hyderabad with the Conexant (a software developer and fabless semiconductor company) acquisition.
It also has a low-power AI team and a unified communications (UCC) development team (for example, VoIP video conferencing systems and headsets) in India. The company has three business segments – IoT, PC, and Mobile – and employs about 1,800 people globally.
Published on
September 18, 2022
