Measuring the stability of EDA vendors
December 29, 2008
EE Times is running a poll that asks designers and managers to state how concerned they are about the financial stability of the vendors they currently work with. Of course EDA vendors are part of the suppliers designers rely upon to get their work done. So the results are very interesting to me. So far respondents are not painting a pretty picture. As many as 81% of respondents are either very or moderately concerned that their vendors will be able to successfully manage the deep global financial crisis. As much as 44% of those taking part in the poll say they are very concerned, while 37% are moderately concerned.
Putting aside for a moment the negative news that have surrounded Cadence, now the second largest EDA vendor, in the last half of this year, the small EDA suppliers are facing a challenging period. John Cooley has reported in his latest ESNUG post that Knowlent, Blaze DFM, and Stone Pillar are possibly out of business. I, unfortunately, do not have any independent information that would contradict that statement, although the web page of Knowlent is quite up to date and shows future engagements at DesignCon. Both Blaze DFM and Stone Pillar are very vulnerable to slower development and adoption of leading edge semiconductors processes. In addition Blaze DFM is finding a significantly increased level of competition in the DFM market segment from the largest four EDA vendors, who are offering greater tools integration with the rest of the design flow.
During my time as an executive manager, one of the tools we used to measure a company was its efficiency. The measure is obtained by dividing revenue by the number of employees. It provides an indication of how good a company is at managing cost of sales and how efficient the development departments are in generating competitive products. When I do that for the three leading EDA vendors, the numbers are a bit of a surprise, because they are lower than I would have expected. It was not a surprise to find out that Synopsys is the most efficient of the three, with a projected $235,000 per employee in revenue for 2008. Mentor shows that they need to work a bit on their productivity, since they will only generate $191,000 per employee if they achieve their projected 2008 numbers. Before the latest restructuring, Cadence's efficiency was $196,000 per employee, while following the layoff, the number increased to $226,000.
![]() |
E-mail This Article | ![]() |
![]() |
Printer-Friendly Page |
Related News
- Metrics Announces an EDA as a Service Partnership Program with Semiconductor Intellectual Property Vendors
- EDA Vendors Spread Wings as Market Softens
- EDA vendors cashing in on move to FinFETs
- GLOBALFOUNDRIES Announces Design Enablement Support for 20nm Design Flows from Leading EDA Vendors
- EDA vendors need to step up system-level design efforts, says EDAC panel
Breaking News
- Arteris Joins Intel Foundry Accelerator Ecosystem Alliance Program to Support Advanced Semiconductor Designs
- SkyeChip Joins Intel Foundry Accelerator IP Alliance
- Siemens and Intel Foundry advance their collaboration to enable cutting-edge integrated circuits and advanced packaging solutions for 2D and 3D IC
- Cadence Expands Design IP Portfolio Optimized for Intel 18A and Intel 18A-P Technologies, Advancing AI, HPC and Mobility Applications
- Synopsys and Intel Foundry Propel Angstrom-Scale Chip Designs on Intel 18A and Intel 18A-P Technologies
Most Popular
- QuickLogic Delivers eFPGA Hard IP for Intel 18A Based Test Chip
- Siemens collaborates with TSMC to drive further innovation in semiconductor design and integration
- Aion Silicon Joins Intel Foundry Accelerator Design Services Alliance to Deliver Next-Generation Custom SoCs at Scale
- TSMC Unveils Next-Generation A14 Process at North America Technology Symposium
- BOS Semiconductors to Partner with Intel to Accelerate Automotive AI Innovation