Keep pulling the thread on Wally Rhines.
Worldwide employment in the EDA industry grew 12.6% in Q1 2026, reaching a total of 72,544 employees.
EDA companies are developing "true copilots" to guide design decisions and reduce the time required for timing and power closure.
The Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry experienced a 12.7% year-over-year growth in Q1 2026.
Total revenue for the Electronic Design Automation (EDA) industry reached $5.7 billion in Q1 2026.
China's combined EDA and IP market grew by 31.1% year-over-year in Q1 2026.
In Q1 2026, logic verification grew 26%, with RTL simulation growing 16% and hardware-assisted verification (emulation) growing 32%.
The power analysis category of EDA software declined by 16% in Q1 2026.
The TCAD (Technology Computer-Aided Design) category grew 10.9% in Q1 2026.
In the semiconductor IP market for Q1 2026, macrocells and cores grew 78%, verification IP grew 10.5%, and PCI controllers grew 21.7%.
Wally Rhines states that the productivity of EDA tool software developers is increasing significantly due to the adoption of AI and cloud platforms.
Silvaco is providing capabilities for virtual manufacturing process development and optimization, which it claims dramatically reduces time-to-market and the number of test wafer runs.
A new "build vs. buy" dynamic is emerging in EDA where companies consider training their own AI models or using token-based AI services as alternatives to purchasing commercial software.