Note: My Q&A discussion with Maheen Hamid of Breker Verification Systems below appeared earlier this week on Semiwiki.

Maheen Hamid, a member of the ESD Alliance (a SEMI Technology Community) Governing Council and a member of SEMI’s North America Advisory Board, is an astute business executive. Together with her husband Adnan Hamid, they founded Breker Verification Systems, a company developing test synthesis solutions. She serves today as COO and CFO.

We recently talked about her journey into the tech industry, how she’s able to leverage her MBA and her thoughts on leadership. We finished our conversation discussing the industry trends she is seeing and how Breker is reacting to those trends.

Smith: What’s on your mind these days?

Hamid: Any executive is always concerned with growing the business while optimizing investment opportunities. The tactics are dynamic with changing trends, but the strategic ambition is static.

A long-term high-profile customer who has been familiar with the evolution of Breker recently said that he couldn’t imagine taping out a chip without using Breker solutions. If I had to pick any one thing that keeps me up at night, that is: How do I get all my customers to say exactly this?

Introducing innovative approaches for novel capabilities is challenging in a mature market entrenched with legacy methodologies. We observe a growing convergence with unmet needs with test synthesis solutions across various verticals and design processes. Due to the initiative supported by Accellera since 2015, Portable Stimulus has become a desired solution space, especially with developing needs in generative AI applications, RISC-V, and leading-edge applications requiring increased compute power. Some of those applications are in healthcare such as genomic sequencing and cancer treatment, aerospace and various simulations in research labs.

Breker is helping push the boundaries of verification technologies for complex chips. In line with our customer-centric, forward-looking positioning, I am focused on bringing agility to how we respond to the diverse demands of our users.

(more…)

As the curtain goes up on the 60th Design Automation Conference (DAC), I’m pleased to share that the Electronic System Design (ESD) industry revenue increased to $3,951.1 million in the first quarter of 2023. That’s 12% growth from $3,527.7 million in the first quarter of 2022, according to results compiled in the Electronic Design Market Data (EDMD) report from the ESD Alliance, a SEMI Technology Community. The report also showed the four-quarter moving average was 12.6%, a percentage based on comparisons for the most recent four quarters to the prior four.

Double-digit gains were posted as well with increases in all product categories and geographic regions. Product categories that reported double-digit increases include Computer Aided Engineering, IC Physical Design and Verification, Printed Circuit Board and Multi-Chip Module (PCM and MCM), and Services.

Digging further into the statistics, companies tracked in the EDMD report employed 57,696 people globally in Q1 2023, a 12.9% jump over the Q1 2022 headcount of 51,093 and up 4.5% compared to Q4 2022.

Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) revenue rose 15.1% to $1,434.1 million with the four-quarter moving average increasing 18.6% while IC Physical Design and Verification revenue jumped 24.6% to $675.8 million, as the four-quarter moving average for the category increased 14.6%.  PCB and MCM revenue increased 25.6% to $368.4 million with the four-quarter moving average rising 15.7%. Semiconductor Intellectual Property (SIP) revenue increased 0.4% to $1,330.6 million as the four-quarter moving average grew 5.7%. Services revenue increased 17.2% to $142.2 million and its four-quarter moving average rose 16.8%.

A look at the regions by revenue highlights the Americas as the largest reporting region by revenue, procuring $1,698.2 million of products and services in Q1 2023, a 12.7% increase. The four-quarter moving average for the Americas rose 12.5%. Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) secured $530.1 million of products and services in Q1 2023, a 21.6% increase, growing the four-quarter moving average to 9.6%.  Japan’s procurement of products and services increased 4.3% to $272.7 million for a 2.3% four-quarter moving average. And finally, Asia Pacific obtained $1,449.9 million of products and services in Q1 2023, a 9.6% increase and four-quarter moving growth of 16%.

About the EDMD Report

The ESD Alliance Electronic Design Market Data report presents Electronic Design Automation (EDA), SIP and services industry revenue data quarterly. Both public and private companies contribute data to the quarterly report available from SEMI and published approximately three months after quarter close. EDMD report data is segmented as follows:

For information about SEMI market research reports, visit the SEMI Market Research Reports and Databases Catalog.

Learn More About the ESD Alliance

I’m at DAC and SEMICON West this week and available to answer questions about the EDMD and why your company should become an ESD Alliance member. We offer a range of programs in addition to the quarterly EDMD and represent members in the electronic system and semiconductor design ecosystem that addresses technical, marketing, economic and legislative issues affecting the entire industry. We act as the central voice to communicate and promote the value of the semiconductor design ecosystem as a vital component of the global electronics industry.

Follow SEMI ESD Alliance

www.esd-alliance.org

ESD Alliance Bridging the Frontier blog

Twitter: @ESDAlliance

LinkedIn

Facebook

Note: Many thanks to EE Times Europe for publishing my viewpoint last week “Industry Organizations Are the Mainstay of the Semiconductor Ecosystem.” It seems fitting to repost it here as SEMICON West (a SEMI event) and the collocated Design Automation Conference open next week.

A recent conversation with a colleague took us down a path on the importance of industry organizations. His company does not belong to any, and he wondered if it should. The short answer is “absolutely.” I quickly drew him in by explaining the value of belonging to industry organizations for semiconductor companies large and small, startup, emerging and public.

It’s not one-way, however. Industry organizations serve an important role, perhaps now more than ever, in the world of geopolitics, the U.S. CHIPS Act and the EU Chips Act and other similar efforts in global geographies. A semiconductor industry organization’s mission is global advocacy and serving as a central voice for the industry. In one example, the organization represents the interests of the semiconductor industry’s design, manufacturing and supply chain throughout the global electronics industry. Another describes its global advocacy as a focus on taxes; trade; legislation; technology; environment, health and safety (EHS); and workforce development (more below).

By joining an industry organization, companies and their executives show their commitment to being good corporate citizens. They also need to be more connected to their ecosystem, including both industry peers and customers, and that can be accomplished through networking events, technical conferences and high-level summits. What better way to socialize and engage with other thought leaders and become a visible industry player? Sales groups often support belonging because events hosted by industry organizations present informal access to potential customers and partners.

(more…)