By EE Times (May 14, 2019)
SAN FRANCISCO — A long, slow march by EDA's three largest vendors to diversify their businesses is coming into sharper focus, even as the EDA market softens after nearly three years of growth.
Market leader Synopsys has for several years been making inroads into the market for software security and software tools, snapping up more than 10 firms in this arena, from the acquisition of Coverity in 2014 to the acquisition of Black Duck Software in 2017. Cadence has been broadening its reach into the embedded software space, as evidenced by a strategic partnership with Green Hills Software in February that included Cadence taking a 16% stake in the firm.
Mentor Graphics, meanwhile, has long been considered the most broadline supplier of EDA's "Big Three," with strength in chip design tools as well as PCB design and embedded software. Since its acquisition by Siemens in 2017, Mentor has also increased its integrations with Siemens PLM's mechanical design tools and automotive products.