Marvell to increase headcount at Shanghai design center

Sep. 14, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Marvell Technology Group Ltd, a U.S. firm in the semiconductor industry, plans to hire more employees at its design center in Shanghai as it sees increasing demand in China's consumer electronics sector, sources reported.

The design center's staff will increase from the current 650 to at least 1,000 by the end of 2010, said CEO Sehat Sutardja. He added that the Chinese market has sound growth potential and that smartphones will continue to contribute to the market's growth.

Marvell plans to increase its share in the global wireless chip market to 25% before 2012, said Sutardja. The firm supplies chips to RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry, as well as to Apple Inc.

Marvell is currently developing chips for the Ophone, a handset that will be sold by China Mobile Ltd<0941> in competition with the iPhone, which will be sold by China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd<600050><0762>.

Marvell has spent a long time developing its business in China. It has built solid relationships with Chinese telecom enterprises such as ZTE Corp<000063><0763> and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Marvell's revenue dropped 24% to US$640.6 million in the quarter ended Aug. 1. However, the company did not reveal its revenue for China.