Tackling EDA’s Broken Business Model: Blaze DFM CEO Jacob Jacobsson (Part 1)

There is a common phrase, ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. Business, high tech business in particular, has a series of interdependencies which have evolved into an ecosystem. This is particularly apparent in EDA, where Intel and AMD rely on the tools provided by EDA vendors to design a chip.

Verigy Recognizes Design-Test Integration Needs

Yesterday I talked about the trend of the design and test sides of the semiconductor industry coming together. The industry is moving towards inserting “testers” into chips, thereby eliminating/reducing the need for high-end testers in most cases. In the next few years, we will see tighter integration between design and testing, and potentially more conversations

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Forbes Column 08: How Chip Toolmakers Can Survive

My Forbes column on the Cadence-Mentor deal is here: How Chip Toolmakers Can Survive. It’s a controversial piece that challenges the semiconductor companies to do their part. Have a look, and feel free to discuss, either here or at Forbes. A comprehensive discussion has also emerged with the my previous post, Cadence Takes a Page

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Cadence Takes a Page Out of Microsoft’s Playbook

With the Microsoft-Yahoo! drama fresh on everyone’s mind, Mike Fister and the Cadence board have finally done something that shows a bit of boldness, some imagination, and possibly some courage. Cadence has made a hostile takeover bid for Mentor Graphics.

Synopsys Better Than the Rest

In continuation with the EDA industry review of Magma yesterday, here is the Q2 analysis for Synopsys’ (SNPS) results announced last month.

Magma Squeezed From Both Sides

I have not been too optimistic about the EDA industry’s growth potential. (Read: Future of EDA and Future of EDA Addendum). Last December, I had also recommended that investors stay away from Magma(LAVA). Their Q4 results, announced last month, were in line with my predictions.

Mentor, PDF Solutions Climb

Mentor Graphics (MENT), the third largest player in the EDA space, announced their Q1 results yesterday.

Bullish on Autodesk

I wrote last month on it being a good time to buy Autodesk (ADSK). The stock was trading at $33 then and today post the announcement of its Q1 results is trading at $41 levels. A good 25% return in a month.