Disco, a Japanese chipmaking device supplier, is planning to open a centre in India to provide support for its clients and serve as a base for marketing to the country's rising semiconductor industry, reported Nikkei Asia. Disco's top executive Vice President Noboru Yoshinaga, as per the report, said the company will consider opening an applications laboratory in India to test silicon wafers cuts and other experimental processing at the customer's request.
Disco is a major player in the chip manufacturing equipment sector that supports the back-end processes. The company provides dicers and grinders. It has a 70 per cent to 80 per cent global market share in this area. As per the report, Disco's Japanese facilities export products all around the world, with overseas sales accounting for approximately 90 per cent of total income. Disco's Indian operations are managed from Singapore.
Disco Executive Vice President Noboru Yoshinaga told Nikkei Asia that the moves show that “the tide has changed”. Yoshinaga said investments by local Indian companies will also progress together with foreign companies. The top executive of the firm was present during the Semicon India 2023 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The proposal comes as a slew of global chip firms have proposed plans to enter the Indian market. Applied Materials, the world's largest chipmaker device producer, is preparing to establish a collaborative engineering centre in Bengaluru. US chip giant Micron Technology has announced the plan to set up new production and testing plant in Gujarat.
However, the report also said Disco's plan will depend on how its client firms expand in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 'Semicon India' 2023 last week on Friday where he said, "This event is similar to how it is necessary to update software. Through SemiconIndia, relations with Industry, experts and policymakers keep updating. I also think that this is essential for the synchronisation of relations."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said, "India understands that semiconductors are not just a national need, but a necessity for the entire world."