Wipro to develop car audio products with Harman
SOURCE: LiveMint
DATE: September 3rd, 2008
Mohit Soapbox:
This is an interesting entry by Wipro into Engineering services. Wipro has gone in multiple directions to generate revenues in non IT related activities. Engineering services is another areas where firms are looking to expand and offering R&D services. The IP for most of these joint ventures still is with the ‘client’ firms.
India’s third largest computer services provider Wipro Ltd said on Tuesday it would co-develop audio products for luxury cars at a new engineering centre it opened for Harman International Industries Inc., a global maker of car and auditorium audio systems.
Wipro would have around 250 people working for Harman this year and expand to 1,000 by 2011.
Both firms said Wipro engineers in Bangalore and Chennai would jointly develop products faster for Harman’s customers such as auto maker Daimler AG, but did not disclose financial details.
“Bangalore is not the cheapest place. In Russia, you can get engineers at half the cost of Indian software programmers,” said Dinesh Paliwal, chairman and chief executive of Harman. “(This) is not for cost, but for efficiency”.
Harman is an existing client of Wipro for global IT infrastructure services. Wipro says it has the world’s largest independent research and development services unit with more than 18,000 people working on telecom and semiconductor products, among others.
“We bring the skills of people who have worked in various domains,” said Suresh Vaswani, joint chief executive for IT business at Wipro. “The focus is on improving speed to market, create new business and help Harman maintain competitive edge.”
Harman will retain ownership of all intellectual property developed in the centre, a joint statement said. Harman employs 12,000 people globally, including more than 1,000 engineers in China. It is the parent company of brands that include Kardon, JBL, Becker, Infinity, Lexicon, Studer and Mark Levinson.
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