This Rs 50 basic device beeps if the animal goes off the road and a small display panel gives back-up information on how much load the cart has been carrying over the last few trips. This device is not ready yet but will hit the market shortly, says Neeraj Paliwal, vice-president and country manager of NXP India, a semiconductor major.
With tech firms stepping up their research pitch to accommodate innovative features, the semiconductor industry is seeing a rush in demand, specially for chips crucial for research – the PLDs.
PLDs or programmeable logic devices are building blocks on which researchers designing 3D TVs, mobile phones and satellites mount innovative features. What differentiates this from conventional chips is that it can be customised. “These chips are used in infrastructure upgrades and new applications. We have been seeing an increase in demand in emerging markets,” says Neeraj Varma, country manager (sales), Xilinx India.
Analysts tracking this sector say that an increase in demand for PLD chips is a sign of growing research activity in the technology sector. $2.4-billion Xilinx, which commands more than 50% of the global market share for PLDs, has seen chip sales revenue grow from $415 million in Q2FY10 to $620 million in Q2FY11 — a 50% spurt.
