Rohm, is not a new name for semiconductors, coming out of humble roots in Japan, Rohm was the first Japanese entrant into Silicon Valley. They are however a new name to India, and they are here to target the Indian two-wheeler market. The product that they are launching is designed to drive and control LCDs that are now emerging on two-wheelers. Mass-market bikes have already started nascent forms of this technology like the TFT screen on the KTM Duke 390, or the Bluetooth ready TVS ENTorq 125 which can call out your next direction bearing from a black and white screen. The expanded line-up is compatible with functional safety measures for speedometers, side mirrors and other vehicle systems, and Rohm is banking on the fact that their systems are tested failsafe which is their USP. Rohm is of the opinion that with the rapid growth of LCD Panels in next-generation vehicles for the instrument cluster, navigation, electronic mirrors and other systems, with larger, higher-resolution displays, calls for an increase in the number of driver and controller channels. Which brings in the need for state-of-art chipset solutions for all sorts of interactive experiences that will be made possible by digital integration. “The automotive industry in India is one of the prime drivers of the Indian economy. This industry’s R&D is an integral part of enabling manufacturing and innovations in India. ROHM introduces the latest technology in panel-safety which had huge market success in Europe and Japan. Rohm is convinced that this new automotive panel-chipset is necessary for the Indian market as it will enhance both safety and comfort,” said Daisuke Nakamura, managing director, Rohm Semiconductor India.Rohm Semiconductor India is working towards enabling innovations in the Indian two-wheeler market. We are now working with key Indian two-wheeler OEM and Tier 1s to customise this solution for the Indian market. A fully functional digital LCD panel can display much more useful information than the mechanical and semi-digital panels. We are working very closely with both conventional OEMs and for e-bikes to define the application in India,” said Britto Edward Victor, head, Design Center, Rohm Semiconductor India.

Now, For Rohm as a company whose affiliations in the global four wheeler market include the likes of Tesla and Mclaren and even our own Tata Motors, and revenues from this system alone projected to hit US$100 million by 2021, with a CAGR of 13% with the present US$60 million.

Their Unique Selling Point is the fact that their system has a fail-safe inbuilt, that kicks in case of fault to show essential data till a service point is a reach. Rohm says its new panel chipset integrates a gamma correction IC, a timing controller (T-CON), source driver, and gate driver for driving HD/FHD class displays (the highest resolution currently on the market), along with a power management IC (PMIC) to ensure optimum operation. Each IC is designed to share information as needed, for the supporting functional safety in devices of displays. This chipset ensures high reliability for LCD monitors used for side mirrors and speedometers.

Get live Share Market updates and latest India News and business news on Financial Express. Download Financial Express App for latest business news.