Ericsson
Global telecommunications equipment manufacturer Ericsson set up its R&D centre in Chennai early this year. It will focus on cutting-edge technologies, including service layers and value-added services for the prepaid and multimedia mobile segments. Ericsson also plans to invest several hundred million dollars to expand its R&D and manufacturing capabilities in the country.
Motorola
Motorola has recently opened two R&D centres in Bangalore. The centres will combine all the core network and embedded communications computing development. The focus will be on new telecom switching technologies and products across CDMA and GSM/UMTS networks, as well as development of a new class of computer-communications servers.
Nokia
Apart from its R&D centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad, the Finnish telecom major has recently set up a CDMA R&D facility at Navi Mumbai. “The creation of a new CDMA R&D facility in India is part of the continuous expansion of Nokia’s global efforts to grow and invest in the CDMA business in this region,” says Soren Petersen, SVP/GM of Nokia’s CDMA Business Unit. Nokia’s Mumbai facility is expected to be fully operational in June. It is expected to help provide centralised software support and technical expertise that will cater to the specific market needs of India and the region. Nokia already has two CDMA centres in China, one in Japan, and eight others spread out around the world.
LG Electronics India
LG Electronics India Limited has an R&D centre in Bangalore employing over 800 software engineers. It primarily looks at developing content suited to the needs of Indian consumers. For instance, the company has recently launched mobile content in Hindi and Marathi and is well on the way to developing content in Tamil, Bengali and Malayalam.
BenQ
Taiwanese electronics maker BenQ set up an R&D facility in Mumbai last year. The company plans to focus on the development and testing of embedded software for BenQ’s mobile phones. Over 100 staff will be employed at the centre over the next two to three years. “Software development is more than 70 per cent of the effort required for mobile phone development,” says K.Y. Lee, BenQ’s CEO. “The modularity of the software makes it easy for some modules to be developed in India and others in China or Taiwan. The final integration of the product typically gets done in Taiwan.”
Samsung
Samsung Electronics India Software Operations (SISO) was set up in February 1996 in Bangalore as a liaison office. Since its inception, SISO has grown to over 500 software engineers working on R&D projects in the latest technology areas. SISO is involved in the business of developing software for Samsung Electronics Corporation technology solutions in a variety of areas. Cutting-edge technologies like 3G wireless, broadband, intelligent appliances for home networking, multimedia, and networking have been some of the focus areas for the company. SISO’s goal of “Being a partner today and a leader tomorrow” is being aggressively pursued by the management. In certain areas like 3G wireless, SISO is being identified as a key development centre within all of Samsung’s global labs. The company is striving hard to gain recognition in other areas as well, including home networking/intelligent appliances, networking and embedded software.
