February - 20208 MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTSBy Randall Restle, VP, Applications Engineering, Digi-Key ElectronicsWhat has happened to the schematic entry and printed circuit board (PCB) design portion of the electronic design automation (EDA) market? The last time I researched sales of EDA companies' board design tools, it was Mentor Graphics (PADS & DxDesigner), Cadence (OrCAD), Zuken (Cadstar), and Altium (Designer) having the greatest sales and market share by revenue but this doesn't capture what has been happening at the low-end of the EDA tool market; pricing the rehas been eroding for decades due in large part to EAGLE and KiCad. Good news for licensors, this has put pricing pressure on the high-end tools like Mentor's PADS such that PADS Maker Edition can now be licensed at Digi-Key for free or an annual cost of $499 per year for the PADS MakerPro Edition. This pressure is the result of inexpensive or free tools serving an estimated 95 percent of a PCB designer's needs.What's New in PCB Design? Time to Explore the Low End of the EDA Tool Market written for Embedded AdvisorIN MY OPINION
< Page 7 | Page 9 >