Oct 6, 2016 - 4:00 PM

HSINCHU, Taiwan – October 6, 2016 – MediaTek Inc. today announced a Smartphone Design-Training program to foster and develop talent for India’s fast-growing handset industry.

The training program, created in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), India, Indian Cellular Association (ICA) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan, will propel the ‘Make in India’ initiative. MediaTek will share its smartphone design expertise, and leverage its well-established global ecosystem to support the program.

The two-and-a-half-month program, scheduled to start later this year, provides hands-on training to managers and senior engineers from India on efficient planning and execution of handset design projects. The guidance and education offered through the training program will give engineers expertise to advance handset design in India.

With its strong support of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, MediaTek once again demonstrates its long-term commitment to this important market. The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched by the India Government in 2014 as part of a wider set of nation-building initiatives devised to transform India into a global design and manufacturing hub.

“We appreciate the effort the Indian Government is making towards building a global manufacturing base for the electronics sector in the country,” said Mr. Ming-Kai Tsai,Chairman  and CEO of MediaTek. “MediaTek, as a key partner to the country’s growth story, is taking its commitment a step further to support domestic innovation and production. We are happy to offer our expertise in the design domain to help set the framework of this skill development program.”

“We have observed that hardware design in the handset industry, especially integration of key components, is lacking in India so the idea of this program is to pick professionals working in the hardware domain and further train them in handset specific design to narrow the current gap in the local industry,” said Ms. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, MeitY. “We appreciate MediaTek’s support in achieving this target. This program is also expected to substantially accelerate the government's  ‘Make in India’ and  ‘Digital India’ initiatives."

Mr. Shen Jong-Chin, Deputy Minister of MOEA, Taiwan said, “India is the world's fourth largest smartphone market. Taiwan is a world leader when it comes to electronics manufacturing and offers a comprehensive range of capabilities to support each stage of the production chain, from product design and innovation to manufacturing of key components to supply chain management. This training Program will help bring Taiwanese expertise in mobile phone system integration to India, creating a win-win situation for both markets and leveraging the strengths and synergies that exist within the industry in India. Taiwan is pleased to support this initiative.”

About 50 professionals, with at least five years of experience in Research and Development (R&D) in electronics, will be selected from key handset makers across the country to take part in the training program.

MediaTek will train engineers in R&D competence and design project management. The company will also coordinate with key component companies to be part of the training module with hands-on instruction. This will be a one-time opportunity for the participants where all key component makers and industry stakeholders will together impart knowledge about their specialized segments.

MediaTek opened its India office in Noida in 2004. In 2014, the company invested US$350 million to expand its business and establish an R&D facility in Bengaluru. MediaTek employs 500 people in India now, and is expected to triple the number to 1,500 in three years. The company also actively invests in India's innovation ecosystem. To date, MediaTek has provided US$100 million worth of funding to companies in the fields of semiconductors, IoT, FinTech, e-commerce and network applications.

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About MediaTek

Since 1997, MediaTek has been a pioneering fabless semiconductor company and a market leader in cutting-edge systems-on-chip (SoC) for mobile devices, wireless networking, HDTV, DVD and Blu-ray. Our tightly-integrated, innovative chip designs help manufacturers optimize supply chains, reduce the development time of new products, and extend a competitive edge in crowded markets. Through MediaTek Labs, the company is also building a developer hub that will support device creation, application development, and services for the Internet of Things era. By building technologies that help connect individuals to the world around them, MediaTek is enabling people to expand their horizons and more easily achieve their goals. We believe anyone can achieve something amazing. And we believe they can do it every single day. We call this idea Everyday Genius and it drives everything we do. Visit www.mediatek.com for more information.