EDA And IP Revenue Grow, But Markets Are Shifting

EDA and IP revenue grew 18.2% worldwide to $4.69 billion in Q2, year-over-year, with all product categories and regions reporting increases, but a drill down into the numbers shows some new pockets of growth and weakness

The Asia/Pacific region exhibited strong growth once again, but the dynamics in that market have changed significantly. China is no longer the primary revenue generator for the region, a sharp reversal following years of market-leading growth. While IP revenue in China grew 20% in Q2 2024, compared with the same quarter in 2023, EDA tools sales declined 24%.

“That [decline] was made up for by two areas,” said Walden Rhines, executive sponsor of the latest SEMI Electronic Design Market Data Report. “One was Korea, at 20% growth. The other was the rest of the Pacific Rim, which is sort of a miscellaneous bucket of everything — but not an inconsequential one.”

The Asia/Pacific region also includes India, which is starting to show substantial EDA and IP revenue, but that market is still somewhat volatile. In Q2, total revenue was down 7%, while the four-quarter moving average shows 16.4% growth, Rhines said.

Another surprise was Japan, which has been relatively soft for years. EDA and IP revenue there grew 26% in Q2, compared to the same period in 2023.

Revenue growth in the United States likewise was strong, with North America reporting 25% growth. “We have this whole phenomenon affecting the industry of new companies moving into design — Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple — and that’s had an enormous effect in the U.S.,” said Rhines. “Of all the foundry wafers worldwide, 25% are now sold to non-semiconductor companies. AI is generating all sorts of special-purpose designs, and everybody is getting into the game. That could be another factor. And there certainly are a lot of smaller companies that have been developing special-purpose chips for AI-related activities. There are a lot of things going on.”

By the numbers, semiconductor IP revenue grew 33.9% in Q2 to $1.68 billion compared to the same period in 2023, while computer-aided engineering increased 8.9% to $1.65 billion. IP physical design and verification revenue grew 13.1% to $779 million, while PCB and MCM revenue increased 8.2% to $399 million. Services revenue increased 30.8% to $180 million.

Fig. 1: Q2 2024 revenue by segment and region. source: SEMI EDMD

On a regional basis, the Americas increased 25% to $2.035 billion; Asia Pacific grew 11.2% to $1.76 billion; Japan increased $26.4% to $305 million, and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa grew 14.8% to $585 million.

Fig. 2: Four-quarter moving average by segment and region. Source: SEMI EDMD