Cadence completes Jasper buy; Coverity boosts software-testing platform; ARM ships DSP lab in a box; Semico predicts 7% chip growth, SIA predicts 6.5%; NXP stock soars.
M&A
Cadence completed its acquisition of Jasper Design Automation, using cash and revolving credit to finance the deal. It will explain the impact on 2014 financial results in fiscal 2015. Jasper’s team, led by CEO Kathryn Kranen, will now report to Cadence senior VP Charlie Huang in Cadence’s System & Verification Group. The deal was first announced in April.
Tools
Coverity uncorked a new version of its software-testing platform. New features include test prioritization, based on technology acquired from Kalistick; better algorithms for finding bugs in C# and Java, and expanded Web application security coverage, including forgery and risky crypto checks.
ARM and its partners will ship a DSP lab in a box to universities to boost skills for creating ARM-based audio systems. The price will be about $50 per student.
Numbers
Semico Research predicts that 2014 semiconductor revenues will rise 7% over 2013, propelled in part by a shift from mobile communications to a much broader set of applications, including the market loosely defined as the IoT. Memory plays a key role in all of this, and so do strong sales of video game consoles.
Semico had a more slightly more optimistic outlook than the Semiconductor Industry Association, which predicts worldwide growth of 6.5% in 2014 and 3.3% in 2015.
NXP Semiconductors is showing particularly strong prospects. The Street observed the company’s stock is trading at an all-time high and 11 analysts rate it a buy, only one rated it a hold, and none rated it a sell.
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