| Dr. Raphael Salmi is the president of Arrow Electronics’ South Asia, Korea, and Japan components business. He is responsible for overseeing the teams supporting Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
With over 19 years at Arrow, Raphael brings extensive experience overseeing various businesses in the Americas and EMEA, focused on driving and achieving growth, innovation, and performance on a global scale. |
As the electronic industry moves past 2025, it advances with significant strides in electronic design systems, encompassing power efficiency, thermal management, and materials. Also, for India, 2025 remained a high-growth year in electronics, wherein the exports of the same grew sixfold from ₹1.9 lakh crore to ₹11.3 lakh crore in a decade. But all this can be sustained and progressed further only through a strong backing in R&D capabilities, as well as exceptional engineering capabilities and resources. In an exclusive conversation with ELE Times, Dr. Raphael Salmi, President – South Asia, Korea, and Japan Components, Arrow Electronics & Bhartendu Mishra, Managing Director – India, Arrow Electronics, discuss these issues in some detail.
Dr. Raphael Salmi notes, “ The role of distributors is rapidly evolving as technology accelerates and India’s electronics manufacturing sector expands,” while he underlines the role of component distributors in India’s dynamic electronics landscape.
Challenges faced by Design Engineers in India
Apart from the core challenges of supply chain and reliable sourcing being evidently face-to-face in the electronics design industry, Dr. Salmi points towards a growing trend in the Indian landscape. He says,” There is an increasing demand for end-to-end engineering capabilities to accelerate innovation and achieve faster time-to-market.”
He adds that his company addresses these challenges by leveraging its extensive technology portfolio, deep engineering expertise, and comprehensive supply chain services coupled with a robust trade compliance program, aiming to empower innovation & resilience in India’s rapidly growing market.
Distributors’ Role – As India Chases the Electronics Dream
As India grows its electronics footprint, the role of electronics distributors is obvious to transform as it forms the very core of Research & development in the sector. To this, Dr. Salmi says, “The role of distributors is rapidly evolving as technology accelerates and India’s electronics manufacturing sector expands”.
Arrow does this by allowing its customers to outsource portions of their supply chain or specific elements of their bill of materials to it, while the companies can focus on research, development, and go-to-market strategies. This allows for enhanced efficiency and flexibility in the entire landscape. For Arrow’s role in India’s dynamically growing electronics landscape, Dr. Salmi says, “ For Arrow, India serves as a key hub for engineering, integration, and supply chain services. . We are committed to serving the Indian market by leveraging our extensive technology portfolio, engineering expertise, and supply chain capabilities to help customers innovate
faster and scale efficiently, and capture these burgeoning opportunities”.
Design Centre in India
Arrow’s recently inaugurated Arrow Engineering Solutions Center in Bangalore is a testament to its commitment to serve and rope in the Indian design engineering talent into the latest innovations in the sector. Bhartendu says, “ The center helps bridge gaps in local engineering capabilities and accelerates adoption of next-generation technologies, such as AIoT, edge computing, and intelligent sensing—reinforcing Arrow’s commitment to innovation and customer success.”
It enables world-class engineering support and advanced technology resources for sectors such as industrial, automotive, transportation, energy management, aerospace, and defense, he adds.
Arrow’s Beyond Components Approach
Arrow’s approach beyond components says a lot about its efforts to support and empower the design engineers. Beyond distribution, it enables supply chain management, engineering design, and integration services, allowing it to act as an extension of OEMs and suppliers’ product development teams.
Bhartendu Mishra, Managing Director – India, Arrow Electronics, says, “ Our robust compliance framework, global reach, and ability to deliver innovative solutions make Arrow a trusted partner for design engineers seeking reliability, expertise, and comprehensive support”.
Looking Ahead
Concluding the discussion, Dr. Salmi highlights Arrow Electronics’ commitment to empowering customers and suppliers across India and Asia-Pacific through its platform-based, data-driven model. The company is expanding value-added services in design engineering, integration, and supply chain management to help customers innovate faster and reach the market sooner. Continued investments in digital platforms will improve real-time access to inventory, pricing, and design resources, while a strong vertical focus on energy management, robotics, AIoT, and e-mobility will anchor Arrow’s growth strategy in the region.
| India’s semiconductor ambitions are backed by initiatives like the ₹76,000 crore ISM and the ₹1,000 crore DLI scheme, which focuses on fostering a strong design ecosystem. A critical part of this effort is ensuring design engineers get timely access to quality components.
To highlight how distributors are enabling this, we present our exclusive series — “Powering the Chip Chain” — featuring conversations with key industry players. |
