Taiwan's MediaTek to triple India workforce to 1,500 within 3yrs

Leading Taiwanese chip designer MediaTek Inc, said on Thursday it will triple its workforce in India within three years to 1,500 from more than 500 as it expands research and software development as well as customer service operations.

The projection compared with MediaTek's current staff of around 12,000 worldwide, and came as chairman M.K. Tsai said the company will host 50 Indian engineers before the end of the year in Taiwan as part of a collaborative government training program on smartphone design.

"MediaTek is committed to Make in India," Tsai said at a seminar discussing opportunities between Taiwan and India in the technology sector, referring to the Indian government's push to attract foreign investment. He estimated MediaTek's market share in Indian-brand smartphones grew to around 70 percent by 2014 from 35 percent in 2007.

Taiwanese tech firms have identified India as the next major market outside of China that is capable of boosting business in an increasingly saturated smartphone market.