Although IC design has been migrating to Asia for several years, design activity here has often been regarded as generations behind the mainstream. The 2005 IC Design House Survey by EE Times—Asia reveals trends to the contrary: Sixty-four percent of design houses in China use process technologies below 0.25µm for digital designs, 42 percent for analog designs and 46 percent for mixed-signal designs. In Taiwan, the mainstream technology for digital and mixed-signal designs is 0.18µm.

Yet another research points out increasing design sophistication. The recently concluded 2005 Design Trends & EDA Tools report by EE Times—Asia and Gartner Dataquest shows that ASIC design size in Taiwan is increasing. ASIC designs with less than 1 million gates decreased by 13 percentage points as a corresponding increase took place in the over-1Mgate category. In China, the largest design category remains that with 1-2.5Mgates, taking about 20 percent ASIC design. The report is based on a survey of over 600 engineering professionals from China and Taiwan who use EDA tools in their work.

The revenue trends also support the increasing importance of this region to IC design and EDA vendors. Of the total EDA industry revenue of $4.019 billion recorded last year, that from North America declined by 4 percent over the previous year, while all other regions increased spending on tools, according to the EDA Consortium. Of particular interest is the "Rest of the World (ROW)" region, within which the only significant market is Asia ex-Japan. The ROW took 12 percent of the global market, growing by 22 percent over 2003.

While design complexity has continued to increase over the past several years, business has also picked up its pace, thanks to a boost from venture capitalists. Annual VC investments in China, for instance, reached $1.269 billion, exceeding the $1 billion mark for the first time in 2004, according to a survey by Zero2IPO, a VC research and consulting firm. The IC industry received the lion's share with $424 million or 33.4 percent of that investment. According to Zero2IPO, the focus of investment within this industry has changed, moving from a mix of IC manufacturing and design segments in 2003 into primarily IC design. Contrast $353 million going to over 30 fabless companies in 2004 with $42.2 million for 6 fabless companies in 2003.

In India, VC funding is also up: 36 Indian companies raised $395 million during Q2 this year compared with 12 companies attracting $300 million in Q2 2004 and 29 companies getting $355 million in Q1 2005, according to a report by market research firm TSJ Media. Of the Q2 investments, the IT and IT-enabled services industry received $52 million.

While current VC investment in Asia pales compared to the $4.6 billion VC money raised by the United States in Q2 alone, there is an increasing trend to invest where the markets lie. A survey by Deloitte & Touche's VC services group shows that 20 percent of U.S. VCs are interested in investing in China over the next five years, while 18 percent are interested in India.

EDA vendors who understand the potential of these markets have been aggressive development partners--alliances with universities and industry associations, and investments in design centers in China and Taiwan are well known. India has been receiving increasing attention--the top four EDA vendors all have various partnerships or teaching programs there.

Almost all the elements that will make Asia not just a manufacturing hub, but a design center, are coming together. What's needed now is an evaluation of business models and pricing schemes by EDA vendors so that their tools can reach down to cost-sensitive design houses, not just up to IDMs at the cutting edge of technology. Asia waits at the edge of a design boom for this fundamental to fall into place.

Email the Editor

Back to top