D-Link Corp, the Taiwanese networking components major, wants India to be its global headquarters for research and development.

“While Taiwan will continue to be a significant R&D centre for the D-Link group, the vision is to make India the R&D hub for not only markets in Asia, but also Russia and Europe.

“Indigenisation of networking switches and routers can be done out of our facilities here for practically any market, be it Russia or South-East Asia,” said Tushar Singhat, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the BSE-listed D-Link India, the domestic arm of D-Link Corp.

Currently, most of D-Link’s global R&D happens out of Taiwan where it has over 400 research staffers.

Banks on Team F1 The Taipei-based D-Link Corp, whose range include broadband modems, firewall devices, data storage systems and videoconferencing equipment among other products, is banking heavily on its recent acquisition of Team F1.

The US-headquartered Team F1, a provider of networking and security software for embedded devices, employs about 140 staffers at its development centre in Hyderabad.

Earlier this year, it was acquired by D-Link.

Over the next two quarters, the company plans to increase the number of staffers at Team F1, Singhat added, without providing specifics. D-Link India has about 300 full-time employees.

India marketshare 6Wresearch, a market intelligence firm, said that D-Link and TP-Link collectively had 40 per cent market share of India’s commercial router market in the quarter gone by. The Taiwanese company expects its India-unit to continue growing at a robust pace on the back of higher enterprise spending, roll outs of 3G/4G networks and increasing broadband penetration.

On the manufacturing side, D-Link is also toying with the idea of getting its products manufactured in India. Already, components of its structured cabling products are being sourced locally. The company prefers to work with entities that design, test, manufacture, distribute, and provide return/repair services for electronic components and assemblies.

“We would prefer to deal with contract manufacturers and electronic manufacturing services companies instead of doing it ourselves. It’s a model that’s worked well in China,” he said.

It is also closely evaluating how the Centre’s new ‘Make in India’ policy shapes up. China-headquartered Foxconn and US-based Flextronics are two of the world’s largest EMS companies.

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