boAt Labs announced the development of an indigenous Neckband IP. This IP is a significant milestone for boAt Labs and the Indian electronics industry, as it demonstrates the potential for innovation and value engineering in India. The neckband IP was developed under the Make in India initiative, in collaboration with the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Electronics System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) of Mobile Enhancements.
The CoE is a state-of-the-art facility set up at Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), Noida. The CoE was set up by the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) in partnership with the Government of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and ICEA (India Cellular and Electronics Association) to support Indian companies in building a design ecosystem in India. The Centre is executed with CDAC providing crucial execution support and is housed at their premises in Noida, UP. The CoE provides world-class infrastructure and expertise to support the development of innovative electronic products and solutions in India which boAt Labs leveraged to design and develop the neckband IP.
The India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with boAt last year (in 2022) as an industry partner for the Centre of Excellence (CoE) based on Li-ion products (post cell) at CDAC, Noida.
boAt is the first company from the consumer lifestyle electronics industry to collaborate with the ICEA to bring out the Indigenous IP. This neckband IP is a feature-rich product that offers a great value proposition for Indian brands and consumers. It is the result of innovative design and approaches implemented by boAt Labs R&D engineers, who collaborated with worldwide technology partners, component suppliers, and distribution partners to achieve the best-optimized Bill of Material (BOM) and to select the system-on-chip (SoC), and other quality components. The IP also integrates the right algorithms to enhance user experience aspects, such as audio and call quality.
The development of the neckband IP is a significant step towards increasing domestic value addition and globally competitive electronics industry in India. It demonstrates the ability of Indian companies to innovate and develop high-quality products at competitive prices. The IP ecosystem created by boAt Labs will also help to reduce India’s dependence on foreign companies for electronics products. Any Indian consumer electronics company can make use of this IP to produce Neckband products in India, instead of depending on to obtain designs from foreign IDHs (Independent Design Houses). Thereby democratizing the IP of Neckband for the Indian market.
“boAt is committed to nation-building. With the aid of India's public-private partnerships, industry expertise, and infrastructure, this latest accomplishment showcases the country's ability to produce innovative new IPs. This IP is a small, yet a significant step in nurturing future national champions”, said Mr. Sameer Mehta, Co-Founder and CEO at Imagine Marketing Limited (parent company of boAt). “We will continue to partner with apex industry bodies like ICEA to provide technical and product mentoring as well as expert advice on audio and wearables.” He added.
“We are proud to announce the development of our indigenous neckband IP in cooperation with ICEA. This is a significant milestone for us and for the Indian electronics industry” said Naveen M Hiremath, Head boAt Labs (R&D division of boAt). “We believe that this IP will help Indian brands to deliver even better products at even more competitive prices. We are committed to supporting the Make in India initiative and building a strong and vibrant electronics industry in India. We worked closely with the CEO of the Centre of Excellence (Noida), Mr Ramashish Ray, an electronics industry veteran, and his team, and their active contribution really helped us achieve this goal”.
