Looking into August, set aside Thursday, August 20, from 10-11am PDT for our next webinar that we’re co-hosting with McKinsey & Company.

“The Impact of Future Mobility Disruptions on the Semiconductor Design Ecosystem” will outline design and silicon IP opportunities driven by the rapid growth and disruptions in global automotive markets and supply chains.

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I’m taking a timeout from SEMICON West to offer some good news on the results from our most recent Market Statistics Service (MSS) announced last week.

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry revenue increased 3.5% in Q1 2020 to $2,698 million, compared to $2,606.4 million in Q1 2019. The four-quarter moving average that compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters increased by 5.2%.

Before I go further, I’ll grab a brief intermission to talk about the MSS (the full report available to ESD Alliance members) to those who aren’t familiar with it. For more than 20 years, MSS has reported EDA, IP and services industry revenue data quarterly with public and private companies contributing to the report. Data is reported quarterly after a quarter closes in confidence to an independent auditing firm.

MSS report revenue data is aggregated and segmented by product categories and regions with many subcategories of detail provided. Every report includes tables with current year-to-date revenue along with the three previous years by quarter, allowing companies to review trends affecting their specific product segments. The report also lists total employment of the tracked companies.

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SEMICON West may be virtual this year, nonetheless, attendees will still have much of the same experience. A wide range of keynotes, fireside chats and executive panels are scheduled from Monday through Thursday, July 20-July 23.

SEMI, celebrating its 50th anniversary, sponsors SEMICON West as part of its mission to connect, collaborate and innovate. And, lest you think SEMICON West is strictly for manufacturing, let me set the record straight. A recent look at attendee demographics noted that 25% of registrants are interested in design and IP.

Aart de Geus

We –– the ESD Alliance –– are a SEMI Technology Community representing members in the electronic system and semiconductor design ecosystem and we’ll be there. Aart de Geus, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of Synopsys and a member of our governing council, will give a keynote Thursday from 8am until 8:30am.

Of note, IBM executive John Kelly III will kick off the conference by highlighting the vital importance of AI in a sustainable future. Other keynoters are Applied Materials CEO Gary Dickerson and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

Other high-powered speakers are:

• Bill Davidow, high-tech industry executive, venture investor and author, who will describe “The Autonomous Revolution: Reclaiming the Lives We’ve Sold to Machines.”
• Gayle Jennings O’Bryne, The WOCstar Fund (Women of Color) co-founder and general partner, and Bob Pearson, chairman of The Next Practices Group and author, will examine “How Technology, Innovation and Smart Investing is a Pathway Forward in Times of Racial and Economic Injustice.”
• Ivy Ross, Google hardware vice president of design, and Dr. Josh Makower, NEA Healthcare general partner and lead for its MedTech/Healthtech practice, will discuss “Where the Inspiration for Google’s Hardware Design Comes From.”
• Abby Snay, deputy secretary for the future of work, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and Dave Toole, CEO, The Gig Economy Group, will offer a look at “How Tech Talent Will Manage the New Norm.”
• Gary Bolles, chair for The Future of Work, Singularity University, will lead a panel on disruptive global workplace changes in “The Great Work Reset.”

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Ted Miracco and everyone at Cylynt (pronounced sī-lənt) could be considered real-life Marvel Comics crimefighters as they battle software piracy around the globe.

I recently spoke to Ted who is CEO of this ESD Alliance member company. We discussed the recent name change from SmartFlow Compliance Solutions to Cylynt, its success as an anti-piracy and cybersecurity crime stopper and move to become a software-as-a-service (SaaS) market intelligence platform.

Ted Miracco, CEO of Cylynt

Is there a market for anti-piracy software?

My answer is a definitive yes. The market opportunity for this type of software is huge. The BSA Software Alliance found that nearly 40% of all software installations worldwide are being used illegally. Software companies are losing more than $46 billion of potential revenue a year.

Many companies use license managers to protect their software IP. License managers are good at providing a check-in and check-out mechanism for companies that want to pay for software and they are well served. Large enterprise-wide users can deploy a license manager on a server with a number of licenses and provide access to those licenses with various software monetization strategies.

License managers generally do not prevent software piracy, and they are also susceptible to commercial overuse or over-deployment. For example, a multinational company could be using a “North America only” license that follows the sun 24/7. Another common instance of over-deployment occurs by rehosting a license, while continuing to use the software on the old computer. Outright piracy can occur when a rogue employee installs a counterfeit license, or a bogus website or corrupt reseller sells counterfeit software as the genuine product. All legitimate companies need to know if this type of software was installed on their networks, as it is not only illegal, but also can come loaded with trojans and malware that can expose the company to IP theft and ransomware.

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