Group will grow to 2,500 employees by the end of 2007 Philips Innovation Campus (PIC), the Bangalore, India, development subsidiary of Netherlands-based Royal Philips Electronics NV, announced Friday that it is increasing the number of staff at the center from the current 1,600 employees to 2,500 employees by the end of 2007.PIC contributes around one-third of the software content of Philips’ products worldwide and has established itself as a key center of excellence for the company, according to a statement Friday from the company.The center designs some of Philips’ Nexperia chips that go into devices such as mobile phones and digital television sets, Rajiv Mehtani, director of the PIC semiconductor group, said Friday. The center is also developing most of the software, including the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) stack, for the Nexperia Cellular System Solution 5130, Mehtani said. Philips announced in June that the sub-US$5 system, which integrates all the electronics needed for a mobile phone, will lower the cost of GSM phones to below $20.PIC has currently invested €25 million ($30 million) in Bangalore, with another €50 million investment likely by 2007, according to L.V. Ranganayakulu, PIC’s director of finance. Most of the new investment will go toward completing a 500,000 square feet (46,451 square meters) campus spread over 12.5 acres (5 hectares). The new campus, with about 100,000 square feet of facility already built, was formally opened Friday. The staff will move in phases from the company’s current facility to the new facility, Ranganayakulu said Friday.The PIC has eight divisions, of which the consumer electronics, semiconductors and medical systems divisions are the largest, according to a company spokesman. A number of multinational technology companies including Cypress Semiconductor Corp. of San Jose, California, and Microsoft Corp. have announced plans to expand their operations in Bangalore, despite widespread concern from the IT industry about the city’s deteriorating infrastructure.Earlier this month, Bob Hoekstra, chief executive officer of PIC, told IDG News Service that the company had no plans to relocate from Bangalore. It is difficult to move after 10 years of creating competencies at the center, he said. Technology Industry