India should focus on semiconductor design, create its own brand: Lip-Bu Tan, Chairman Walden International

MUMBAI: India has the potential to “rise and emerge” as a major player in the next big semiconductor wave, given its human capital is already driving technology giants Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, said Lip-Bu Tan, one of the most influential global voices in the multi-billion dollar chip industry. But it needs to play to its strength and focus on value additions such as chip design instead of fabrication, which is capital intensive, power guzzling and risky in the absence of committed long-term customers.

“Many Indian entrepreneurs are comfortable outsourcing IT designs. India is seen as an outsourcing and not as a product nation. Therefore, I always encourage companies to focus on purpose-built silicon,” Tan, 65, told ET.