Qualcomm, located in the United States, is hoping to assist big and mid-size firms in establishing semiconductor operations in India as one of its main goals in 2024.

It is also increasing its investment in India, namely in design, research, and development in Noida, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

“…given our scale and understanding, we can certainly help drive that ecosystem of semiconductors, just like we have done in other geographies with other companies,” Savi Soin, president of Qualcomm India, told Moneycontrol in an interview.

Late last year, Qualcomm said that it was collaborating closely with the Indian government and Tata Group to investigate the local packaging of its all-new PC processor shortly.

“Qualcomm’s worldwide scale makes it desirable for anybody establishing semiconductor back-end or fabs in India to have access to Qualcomm’s volume. They’re looking for anybody who can put it up; we’re looking for a client who can provide technology and size, and we meet both of those requirements,” he said.

The business is also looking to form strategic alliances with small, local semiconductor startups. “We cannot manufacture silicon, processors, and software for all categories and devices…We’re searching for partners to supplement things we don’t have supplies for.”

Qualcomm India’s commercial team and venture capital arm, Qualcomm Ventures, are exploring ways to collaborate with Indian firms. Soin said that the business also offers a semiconductor mentoring program to assist these startups. “This is [our] helping scale and accelerate the semiconductor strategy for India.“

Double down on investment and startups.

On January 7, the American corporation announced intentions to expand its operations in Chennai by opening a new design center with an investment of Rs 177.27 crore. This will be Qualcomm’s center of expertise for developing connection devices for Wi-Fi 6 and 7. It intends to generate positions for up to 1,600 competent people.

Soin said that the Chennai location will not be the sole investment for 2024, as the business intends to invest in more facilities.

“We are looking at several investments. You will see several announcements from us. 2024 is going to be an eventful year for us. We’re investing heavily in Hyderabad, Noida, Chennai, and Bengaluru. “Every fiscal year, we grow,” he remarked.

Qualcomm is also focusing on India’s startup environment via its different divisions, including Qualcomm Ventures.

“The Qualcomm team is aiming to identify these companies…Some companies need mentoring, coaching, technological help, and funding. This is one of my top three objectives for India. It is critical to establish and grow these Indian firms. Companies who can manufacture items right here in India are crucial to us,” Soin remarked.

6G and SATCOM emphasis

He said that Qualcomm India’s technical teams have begun assisting worldwide teams in the areas of 6G and next-generation satellite communications standardization. “For 6G, we have a dedicated team in India.“

He thinks, however, that before 6G, 5G must thrive in the nation via significant use cases and widespread acceptance by Indian customers.

“Everything [use cases] needs to be India-specific…there are certain business model difficulties that many organizations are trying to tackle. “It’s only a matter of time before it gets resolved,” he remarked.

When asked about Qualcomm’s role in creating specific 5G use cases, he said that Qualcomm India is doing proof of concept (PoCs) around worker safety using a private network in the nation.

He said that 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is a crucial use case since it can connect the country’s disconnected people.

The business intends to collaborate with all satellite communications providers, including those wishing to establish operations in India. “We will collaborate with all necessary stakeholders in the appropriate constellation to deliver services. We have previously declared that we would support non-terrestrial networks (NTNs).

Soin believes that satcom would be useful in the Indian market for emergency communications and in locations where providing standard telecom services is difficult. “It will be a very good feature for the Indian consumer, once we have the right constellations up and running.”