Sondrel brings its IC design services to China

Sondrel entered the mainland Chinese market in early 2009, initially hiring a small number of engineers in Xi’an in central China to support its global operations. It has now opened a second centre in Shanghai in order to provide closer support to its customers and partners. Sondrel has worked closely with the UKTI in China, and has been a sponsor of UKTI’s Enabling Innovation initiative for the past 2 years.

“I wish Sondrel and its partners and customer every success, and look forward to continuing our work to bring the UK and Chinese IC communities closer,” said Mark Prisk, UK Minister for Business and Enterprise, at the opening of the office. “Sondrel is renowned for its success in increasing certainty of costs, reducing time to market, and improving IC design success rates – three pillars on which the success of any IC design client rests. Sondrel is a great representative of the strength of a UK Electronics industry that is the 5th largest globally, worth around 23 billion pounds a year.”

“At Sondrel we see the China market as having great potential and one that is constantly striving to capitalise on leading-edge technology,” said Graham Curren, CEO, Sondrel. “Sondrel continues to grow rapidly with lots of current business and more in the pipeline. The company is recruiting as fast as it can, hiring 20 staff in Shanghai this year with stronger growth to follow next year.”

In mainland China Sondrel is an approved design centre for Chinese semiconductor foundry SMIC as well as TSMC, and has contracts with some of the largest semiconductor companies in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen. Its new office is based in Zhangjiang Hi-Technology Park from where its Shanghai engineers will support its customers nationally.