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The Smart Techie was renamed Siliconindia India Edition starting Feb 2012 to continue the nearly two decade track record of excellence of our US edition.

June - 2009 - issue > Company Spotlight

It aint easy to the top, its after all EDA

Poonam Bhattacharya
Friday, June 5, 2009
Poonam Bhattacharya
Mentor Graphics emerged as the top EDA supplier in Europe in 2008, after spending 7-8 years in the second spot. Windele’s deep knowledge of the EDA market all across Europe has ensured that his team has its feet firm on the ground and seize every opportunity to expand the market.

Windele has now taken on additional role of overseeing the business of the India market. While European market is quite matured and EDA players are constantly looking at avenues to expand the market, the Indian market is relatively nascent. “We are making profits here, yes, but the moot point is not that,” he says, continuing to talk about Mentor’s performance in India. “What is important is what stage the business is in, and whether it can grow the way we want it to grow.”

There are three kinds of companies in the chip designing space in India, he says, while giving the overall industry perspective. Some companies are dependant on the European region for their clients, some depend on the U.S.; there are yet others that are home grown.

“The growth potential is immense; EDA companies here have only scratched the surface,” he notes, adding that most companies have been very dependant on U.S./ European companies for their revenue. Going ahead, he perceives that the home-grown companies, ones that concentrate on the local market, will rule the roost. They will grow immensely over the next 3-5 years, he says, adding that the downturn will, in fact, aid this development: many Indians from the U.S. will return to India, given the sorry state of affairs there. They will want to start their own ventures, and why not?

“Demographic data shows that the number of people who will be able to afford phones, computers—basically, things that rely on the EDA industry—will increase dramatically,” says Windele, adding that for Mentor to grow, it is important to concentrate on this segment. Today, there is a pressing need to keep the developments here connected to the larger picture, in other words, developments in the U.S. and European markets.


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