News and New Products

Xilinx Plans R&D in China Next Year

By David Manners -- Electronics Weekly, 11/15/2006

Xilinx is planning to set up its first R&D centre in China next year, now that it is satisfied that the China government has done enough to protect IP and to make it possible for foreign investors to get their money out.

“We’re looking at having R&D in China in 2007," Wim Roelandts, CEO of Xilinx, told Electronics Weekly at Electronica this week.

Roelandts said that Xilinx would “probably” adopt the same business model for China R&D as it adopted for R&D in India, which is to fund a local company to set up a local operation with an option for Xilinx to take it over if it becomes successful.

The model produced Xilinx’s Hyderabad R&D centre, which now employs 75 people, and which Xilinx bought out from a local company last month.

Asked why he thought that next year would be the right time to set up in China, Roelandts replied: “Because it is now possible for foreign investors to get their money out of China and because the China government has brought in IP protection now."

Asked what had made the government do that, Roelandts replied: “Because they have their own IP to protect.”

The motivation to go to China is not low cost, but because the locals understand the application better. “It’s impossible to design something in North America for the China market," said Roelandts.

“It’s like you can’t design a car for the U.S. market in Japan. That’s why the Japanese car makers have design centers in the U.S. We want to be close to our customers.”

Electronics Weekly is the London-based sister publication of Electronic News, part of the EDN Network.