Cypress Semiconductor (CY) this week inaugurated a regional chip design center in Shanghai.

The location will provide IC design and sales support to Cypress's Asia-Pacific customers. Cypress is expecting to hire as many as 50 local employees at the new facility within the next two years.

Cypress also runs design centers in India, a Cypress assembly and test facility outside Manila, and an operations center in Hong Kong. The Shanghai center will design a variety of products for local markets.

Cypress currently sells a broad portfolio of consumer, computation and networking IC solutions that include general purpose and PC clock chips, CMOS image sensors, memories and embedded controller technologies such as its PSoC Programmable System on Chip\ mixed-signal arrays and USB devices to several Chinese customers, both directly and through distribution partners.