What Siemens' Mentor Buy Means to IC Designers

SAN FRANCISCO — Ever since Siemens announced its plan to acquire Mentor Graphics three weeks ago, many in the semiconductor industry have been poking and parsing its implications.

They’ve found, thus far, more questions than answers.

At stake is Mentor Graphics’ future as an independent EDA vendor for chip designers. What looks like a significantly reduced market competition among EDA tool companies is also worrisome, now that the only two left standing are Synopsys and Cadence.

Also: Why did Siemens want to buy Mentor? What – if anything – does Siemens know about IC design business? What changes will this deal bring to IC EDA users in particular? Observers are also wondering if this means the EDA industry will lose Wally Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor, a legend in the industry.

EE Times caught up with Rhines and Chuck Grindstaff, executive chairman of Siemens PLM Software.

Siemens PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) Software is a unit in Siemens’ Digital Factory Division. In the larger context, Siemens generated revenue of 79.6 billion euros in fiscal 2016 (ending Sept. 30). Siemens’ Digital Factory division, which Mentor will join, registered revenue of 10.2 billion euros during the same period.

We asked both executives about the intent of the deal and how the two companies see its effect on customers.

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