Analog Devices: US chipmaker Analog Devices increases India headcount by 30%

Massachusetts-based semiconductor maker Analog Devices has increased its sales and applications team headcount in India by 30% in the past eight months, Vivek Tyagi, managing director of Analog Devices India (ADI), told reporters on Wednesday. The company, which has offices in Bengaluru, Gandhinagar and Hyderabad, currently employs 1,500 people in the country, including 1,200 engineers, according to Srinivas Prasad, senior director and head of Analog Devices’ India business.

Globally, the company employs 26,000 people in 31 countries, of whom over 11,000 are engineers.

On the market opportunity in India, Tyagi said the total addressable semiconductor market in the country is expected to grow to $11 billion from $2.7 billion in 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 27%.

By then, he hoped, India would become one of the company’s three largest markets. “Today, our largest markets are North America, Europe, Japan and China, but India is one of the fastest-growing market opportunities for ADI,” he said.

India’s contribution to the company’s $12.3 billion in global revenue in 2023 was not disclosed. Of the revenue India contributes, 40% comes from industrial automation and 30% from the automotive sector, Tyagi said. “We are working with leading automotive OEMs. We are also working with Schneider Electric and Honeywell,” he said.

“We have not applied for semiconductor manufacturing incentives (PLI) at the moment,” Tyagi said. “Unlike many semiconductor companies, we have our own fabs, testing and assembly, both in-house and with third parties. Analog Devices has eight fabs globally and has tie-ups with third-party fabs. We have a fab strategy. The company will look at it (manufacturing in India) in the long term. We have not applied for it at the moment,” he said.

“Currently, none of our factories are in China. China plus one strategy doesn’t matter to us,” he added. “Everything is in the U.S. or Europe, but we have partnerships with two foundries in Taiwan.”

Tyagi told ET that ADI has its design, software and factory automation teams in India. The chip size that ADI manufactures globally ranges from 7nm to 250nm, he said. “Tatas have announced that they will manufacture 28nm chips in India and that is the right start. We need gas supply, chemical supply and trained manpower,” he added.

Tyagi said he could neither confirm nor deny whether ADI was working with Tata Electronics and Taiwanese company Powerchip, which is building a plant in Dholera, Gujarat, Tata Semiconductor, which is building an ATMP plant in Assam, and CG Power, Japanese company Renesas and Thai company Stars Microelectronics, which is building an ATMP plant in Sanand, Gujarat.

“We are not in a position to say yes or no at this point,” he said. “ADI has not made any public announcement. We currently do not have any plant in India and we have no plans to have a plant in India.”