Industry
Applied Materials, world’s No. 2 chip fab toolmaker, looks to make India hub for R D, supplier base
Summary
- The California-headquartered company is working with more than a dozen international and domestic suppliers to set up manufacturing in India, says a top executive
Applied Materials Inc., the world’s second-largest toolmaker for semiconductor fabrication units, is working with more than a dozen international and domestic suppliers to set up manufacturing in India, said Prabu Raja, president of the semiconductor products group at the California-headquartered company.
In an exclusive conversation with Mint, the top executive, who is spearheading a $400 million investment into India announced in 2023, said the company’s plan to set up a research and development (R&D) centre in the country was taking shape and will help in faster validation of quality of materials that go into chipmaking.
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“We’re working with 15 international and domestic suppliers on how they can manufacture in the country, because typically we want our suppliers to be close to us because the speed of R&D determines speed of product development, which is also why we’re working to open the validation centre because labs will be needed to validate the products and R&D," Raja said.
The $26 billion revenue company had announced the setting up a centre of excellence for artificial intelligence (AI) and data science in Chennai earlier this month. That, Raja said, was aimed at making India the hub of its R&D as well as training activities, especially involving AI.
“As much as we are enabling AI with manufacturing the chips, we also use a lot of AI right from developments, simulations and maintaining the tools, how our customer factories are run. So, we are bringing this center of excellence as a hub where there can be development and training," he added.
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The centre will create 500 jobs. The move is also part of its long-term plan to raise the company’s presence in India to about 10,000 people from the current 7,500-8,000.
Raja said that as an equipment supplier, the company was typically located close to upcoming fabs or rather ‘be part of’ the fabs, which is why its own set of suppliers that provide parts for the equipment it makes also be close by. Applied Materials is in discussions with its partners to evaluate locations close to where semiconductor majors are setting up their testing, packaging plants as well as fabrication units.
Co-location was essential because each of the projects could have different nodes and would require different and specialized equipment, he said. It will also be crucial for setting up its own manufacturing unit, from where it can supply equipment more efficiently, he said.
“Right now, we have manufacturing in Singapore and Austin, Texas. Depending on the incentives, on the talent, we will keep all options open," he said.
