Micromax joins forces with Taiwan's Phison to enter Semicon design space with MiPhi

Homegrown electronics brand Micromax Informatics has made a strategic entry into the semiconductor industry by joining hands with Taiwan-based Phison Electronics, a global leader in storage technology. Together, the two companies have launched MiPhi, a fabless chip design joint venture aimed at developing cutting-edge NAND storage solutions. Micromax holds a 55% majority stake in the venture, with the remaining 45% owned by Phison, underscoring the company’s commitment to advancing semiconductor capabilities in India.

Speaking to Fortune India, Rahul Sharma, co-founder of Micromax Informatics said, “If you look at storage, there are only five countries in the world who have storage design capabilities– the US, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and China. But as a country in India, we don't have any design capabilities for storage. We are good at designing for others, but when it comes to our own, we do not have any successful design which is commercial. Rather I can see that in the whole semiconductor space. MiPhi is a fabless company (that will) produce solutions based on memory and solving real complex problems for the AI world.”

Chip design is a highly complex and capital-intensive process, often requiring three to four years before achieving commercial viability. Experts caution that by the time a chip is ready for production, it risks becoming obsolete or irrelevant due to rapid advancements in technology. This is where Micromax’s collaboration with Phison Electronics becomes a strategic advantage. “Every NAND memory in the world requires a microcontroller, and only two companies globally dominate this space. Of this, Phison powers 70% of the global NAND memory market, enabling major players like Micron, Samsung, and Hynix. Phison is a design-driven powerhouse with a team of 4,000 engineers. We have partnered with Phison to set up this joint venture in India, in which Micromax will have 55% stake and 45% will be with Phison,” says Sharma. “All (their) design capabilities will come to India, and we will build on top of it. Eventually, we will also have our engineers trained, which will help create an army of design engineers in the country. And in two-three years, we will be completely design independent and things will start to come out of India.”

To begin with, MiPhi will leverage Phison’s extensive IP portfolio, which has been built over decades with over $250 billion in investments, to develop its own intellectual property with Phison's support. Currently, Phison holds over 2,000 IPs, providing MiPhi with a strong foundation to accelerate its journey in chip design and innovation. In parallel, MiPhi will continue to invest in R&D to develop products focused on enterprise SSDs, automotive, and AI products.

The launch of MiPhi comes at a crucial time as India emerges as a global economic hub and aims to establish itself as a leader in artificial intelligence. By combining the strengths of Micromax and Phison, the joint venture aligns with the nation’s vision of “Making AI in India” and reflects a significant milestone in bolstering India’s technological infrastructure. Sharma claims, with Phison’s advanced NAND storage technologies and Micromax’s market expertise, MiPhi is uniquely positioned to offer impactful solutions across AI, enterprise workloads, and embedded systems.

While the company will be training engineers and working towards creating its own IP over the next three years, it has already created a NAND AI Adaptive storage solution. This is an AI chip that works on AI servers. “If you have to train any AI models, to create 405 billion tokens, you need around 80-100 GPUs. This is where Nvidia comes into picture. Each server can take only 8 GPUs and then you have multiple servers. What this technology does is, you can train 405 billion tokens and more on just one server. This means only 8 GPUs and not 80 GPUs, and eliminates 90% of the cost. So with one-tenth of the cost, you are achieving the same result,” explains Sharma.

MiPhi’s focus on creating a local talent pool is also a key factor in the company’s long-term success. Sharma aims to build a team of 1,000 engineers over the next three years, with a focus on recruiting predominantly computer science graduates. The venture plans to train Indian engineers in both India and Taiwan, creating a strong pool of semiconductor design experts who can drive innovation within the country.

India has embarked on a transformative semiconductor journey, supported by a significant ₹76,000 crore incentive through the government’s Semicon India program. A key element of this scheme is to nurture and support semiconductor design companies in India, acknowledging the vital role innovation plays in advancing the sector. As part of this vision, Sharma intends for MiPhi to apply under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, which is specifically aimed at promoting and developing local semiconductor design capabilities.

In addition to MiPhi, Bhagwati Products, operating under the electronics division of Micromax Informatics, has already made significant progress in the manufacturing sector. The company is manufacturing servers and other critical electronics products under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware, which is administered by the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. To solidify its position in the electronics supply chain, Sharma also plans to leverage the government's upcoming scheme aimed at boosting domestic production of components crucial to electronics manufacturing.