By Russ Henke on 5/25/2009 7:25 AM

The economic recession plaguing the world has been a frequent topic of discussion in this blog space. Closer to home, the US recession that began in December 2007 has naturally received special attention. The last blog entry on the latter appeared here on April 3, 2009, cleverly entitled, “Economic News…circa April 3, 2009”. Even on April 3rd, we were searching for any news that might indicate that the country’s economy “just maybe could be bottoming out.” However, the US jobs report for March 2009, released by the Labor Department that very day, did not indicate a bottoming out at all, as the nation's unemployment rate in March jumped to 8.5%, the highest since late 1983, as a wide range of employers eliminated a net total reported at first as 663,000 jobs. (Worse, this figure was revised upward a month later to 699.000 jobs lost in March). Finally, the “sign” of bottoming out could arguably have appeared in the numbers indicated by the Labor Department’s May 08, 2009 report. While another 539,000 jobs...

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By Russ Henke on 5/24/2009 11:32 AM

As the years roll by, I have come to loathe Memorial Day. All three men in my immediate family served honorably in the US Armed Services. My father in WWI, my brother in WWII, and my other brother in post-WWII Europe. My father and oldest brother survived the wars, but their lives were both cut short by the long-term effects of wartime injuries they suffered. My father was gone before I was 10 years old. The good memories are fading now. For my spouse and me, virtually every family member older than we, are gone. So too for many teachers, college professors, former bosses, and even some co-workers. Lots of memories to go around. But worst of all, one of our sons is gone. Gone at age 23. It’s been 17 years, but the hurt is still raw. We remember. We grieve. We give thanks for our two other children who are thriving. We also acknowledge the grief of millions of our fellow citizens with similar or worse stories, but somehow we remain strangely discomforted by that acknowledgment. Alas, grief and remembrance...

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By Russ Henke on 5/10/2009 11:35 AM

On January 22 and January 30, 2009, related blog entries appeared in this space that discussed the impact of the general US economic collapse on a small EDA IP supplier (Virage Logic) located in Silicon Valley. If those two January blog entries were of any interest to you, you may have also read the then-latest overall financial report & commentary on seven key Electronics IP Providers (including Virage Logic), posted in EDAcafe.com on February 20, 2009, by copying & pasting the following URL contained in the February 20 blog entry here: http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=656383 Nearly three months have passed since that February Commentary was published. A brand new one with the latest reports on the seven key Electronics IP Providers may now be seen at the following URL as of today May 10, 2009: http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=691493 Enjoy!

...

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By Russ Henke on 5/6/2009 4:11 AM

The “Simulation Driven Product Development ™” approach favored by ANSYS these days has been more closely linked to the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping, through the certification of some five ANSYS products for Inventor ® 2010 software from Autodesk, Inc.

While partnerships between and among MCAE and MCAD vendors are not new, these two companies have emerged in recent years as leaders in their respective niches.


To read the complete May 6, 2009 ANSYS news release, copy and paste this URL into your browser:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=118715&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1284943&highlight=

By Russ Henke on 4/20/2009 4:04 AM

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., April 20, 2009 -- Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ: ORCL) and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) announced today they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Oracle will acquire Sun common stock for $9.50 per share in cash. The transaction is valued at approximately $7.4 billion, or $5.6 billion net of Sun’s cash and debt. “We expect this acquisition to be accretive to Oracle’s earnings by at least 15 cents on a non-GAAP basis in the first full year after closing. We estimate that the acquired business will contribute over $1.5 billion to Oracle’s non-GAAP operating profit in the first year, increasing to over $2 billion in the second year. This would make the Sun acquisition more profitable in per share contribution in the first year than we had planned for the acquisitions of BEA, PeopleSoft and Siebel combined,” said Oracle President Safra Catz. “The acquisition of Sun transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems,”...

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By Russ Henke on 4/9/2009 6:08 AM

In a March 13, 2009 blog entry in this space, COFES attendees were invited to check out the latest financial performance numbers of the leading MCAD, EDA and IP vendors for Q4 2008, by downloading the three most recent quarterly Industry Commentaries from the IBSystems’ website. In those reports, only the small IP category defied recessionary forces by posting a combined revenue increase for Q4 2008, while both the covered MCAD and EDA categories posted revenue declines. To supplement those numbers, the EDA Consortium (EDAC) this week released its revenue report for the entire EDA Industry for Q4 2008. On April 7, 2009, the EDAC Market Statistics Service (MSS) announced that total electronic design automation (EDA) industry revenue for Q4 2008 declined 17.7% to $1318.7 million, compared to $1602.7 million in Q4 2007. This 17.7% decline for the whole EDA industry was smaller than the 24% decline for the five selected EDA vendors covered in the March EDA Industry Commentary, including the Big 3. Note that...

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By Russ Henke on 4/3/2009 5:33 AM

Has the bottom of the recession in US car sales been reached? The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that despite “another major sales decline in March 2009, auto makers expressed a rare bit of optimism on April 1, 2009, saying they see signs the industry's downturn might be near bottom and a recovery could be starting.” All of the “big car makers suffered sales declines of 36% or more in March 2009 compared to March 2008. Industry-wide, US sales totaled 857,735 cars and light trucks, down 37% from a year earlier, according to AutoData Corp. But that's up from 688,909 vehicles sold in February 2009 and was the highest total since September 2008.” The “annualized sales pace, a closely watched indicator, came in at 9.86 million vehicles, well below the 16 million or more the industry typically logged a few years ago, but up from February's pace of 9.12 million.” USA Today reported that while “more cars and trucks usually are sold in March than in February, the jump this year was 24.5%, the biggest February-to-March...

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By Russ Henke on 3/28/2009 5:14 AM

 

SaaS, or Software as a Service, has been a topic in COFES blog circles in the past. See for example the Brian Seitz blog of 02/10/008 entitled, “Is SaaS the Killer App for the CAD Industry?” That blog entry excited some 14 comments that stretched out through November of 2008. If you’re interested, go to the BLOGS tab on this site, and scroll down the right hand margin until you get to the Brian Seitz URL.

Another article on SaaS that might be of interest appeared recently on EDAcafe.com by Sharon Tan of Gary Smith EDA, entitled, “SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE IN EDA – TIME AGAIN?” If you have an interest, copy and paste the following URL into your browser:

http://www10.edacafe.com/goto.php?http://e2ma.net/go/1848739412/1691895/63020433/goto:http://www.garysmitheda.com/note_TimeAgain.html

A pdf version is available there as well. Enjoy!

 

By Russ Henke on 3/13/2009 4:56 AM

Headed for COFES2009 in Scottsdale, AZ in April? Bone up on the latest financial results of the leading Mechanical CAD and CAE (MCAD) Vendors, as well as the leading Electronics Design Automation and Intellectual Property (EDA and IP) Vendors, by reading the following three recent Commentaries: Commentary: Electronics IP Industry - A February 2009 Update http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=656383# Commentary: MCAD Industry View – A March 2009 Update http://www.mcadcafe.com/PDFs/MCAD_Commentary_4Q08.pdf Commentary: EDA Industry Update March 2009 -- What did the Last Quarter Bring? http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=665171 The basic format for each of these Commentaries is as follows: News Highlights are followed by the revenue & earnings performances of the selected group players for Q4 2008, and then vendor by vendor details. This is followed by the revenue and earnings performances for the calendar year and then for five years. Vendor...

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By Russ Henke on 3/6/2009 6:48 AM

We all found out on February 27, 2009 that the US economy at the end of last year actually contracted at a far faster rate than initially estimated, according to a US Bureau of Economic Analysis report. The decline in the country's gross domestic product in Q4 2008 was the worst since the 1982 recession. Output fell 6.2% at an annualized rate in the fourth quarter of 2008, revised downward from a previous estimate of a 3.8% decline. Today, more bad news was released by the US Labor Department. The nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.1% in February 2009, the highest since 1983, as employers chopped another 651,000 jobs. Both figures were (as usual) worse than analysts expected. And as predicted in this blog space on February 6, 2009, revised figures released today show even deeper payroll reductions in the prior two months: the economy lost 681,000 jobs in December 2008 and another 655,000 in January 2009. Since the recession began in December 2007, the economy has lost an incredible 4.4 million jobs....

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By Russ Henke on 2/28/2009 10:09 AM

In recent blog entries in this space, the impacts of the general US and worldwide economic collapse on Electronics IP Providers were discussed. For example, on January 22 and 30, 2009, recent financials were presented for a small EDA IP supplier (Virage Logic) located in Silicon Valley. Then on February 20, 2009, Internet access was published here to the latest overall financial reports & commentary on seven key Electronics IP Providers, just posted that day in EDAcafe.com: http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=656383 Electronics IP Providers form a subset of the overall Electronics Design Automation (EDA) software & services industry, the “CAD” of modern electronics devices and chips. The detailed saga of one of the BIG 3 EDA vendors (Cadence Design Systems) over the last six months was also updated here in a blog entry on February 22, 2009. But the worlds of MCAD and MCAE are also...

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By Russ Henke on 2/22/2009 8:25 AM

The ups and downs (mostly downs) of one of the Big 3 Electronics Design Automation (EDA) vendors Cadence Design Systems have been frequent topics in this blog space since the autumn of 2008. The last update occurred here on January 9, 2009, when it was announced that Cadence had given up its search for an outside CEO and had appointed Lip-Bu Tan as president and CEO the day before. Tan had been the interim vice chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Interim Office of the Chief Executive. For the record, Cadence stock closed regular trading on January 08 at $4.12, up $0.09 or 2.23%. In after hours trading, the stock lost 2.36%, trading at $4.02, implying a Market Cap just north of $1 billion. In early February 2009, Cadence reported actual Q4 2008 revenue of $227 million, less than 50% of the revenue of $458 million reported for Q4 2007. On a GAAP basis, Cadence suffered a net loss of $1.64 billion, or minus $6.57 per share in Q4 2008, compared to net income of $120 million in Q4 2007, or plus $0.41 per share. After the Q4 2008 results were announced on February 4, Cadence shares closed at $3.65, although the shares rebounded the next day to close at $4.20 each. ...

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By Russ Henke on 2/20/2009 1:18 PM

On January 22 and January 30, 2009, related blog entries appeared in this space that discussed the impact of the general US economic collapse on a small EDA IP supplier (Virage Logic) located in Silicon Valley.

If those two January blog entries were of any interest to you, you may like to read the latest overall financial report & commentary on seven key Electronics IP Providers, posted in EDAcafe.com on February 20, 2009.

http://www10.edacafe.com/nbc/articles/view_article.php?articleid=656383

By Russ Henke on 2/11/2009 6:35 AM

As a welcome antidote to chronically depressing economic news, two recently-published articles caught the eye of this mechanical computer aided design (MCAD) veteran (1). Appearing within 10 days of each other, the two articles discussed progress in the often-esoteric world of 3D MCAD solid modeling. First, on January 26, 2009 in MCADcafe Weekly, Contributing Editor and CAD veteran Jeff Rowe published an extensive article entitled, “NX 6 – Synchronous Modeling Promotes Design Freedom.” In the article, Jeff reviewed user design and modeling experiences with Siemens PLM’s NX 6 software product. Then on February 4, 2009, Autodesk (San Rafael, CA) unveiled its plans for “Autodesk Inventor Fusion Technology” that promises to unite parametric, history-based modeling with direct, history-free modeling. More on this announcement below. Based in Plano, Texas, Siemens PLM had announced the pending release of its NX 6 digital product development software on May 20, 2008 in conjunction with its annual industry...

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By Russ Henke on 2/6/2009 6:57 AM

On February 3, 2009, The CAD Society announced that it had appointed an Interim President and interim Vice President to take the CAD Society forward into the new year. Rachael Dalton-Taggart, 20 year industry veteran and Director of Marketing with Lattice Technology, will be Interim President until later this year. Ken Feitz, 18 year industry veteran, and Marketing Manager at TransMagic Inc. will take on the roles of Vice President and Treasurer for the same term. The CAD Society was formed in 1990, as part of the NCGA (National Computer Graphics Association), and it split out on its own when the NCGA ended. Since then, the CAD Society has been best known for its annual awards recognizing the achievements of CAD industry leaders. Those awards have been presented at the annual COFES since 2000. Retiring President Mike McGrath commented on the change, "Rachael and Ken have both been actively assisting the CAD Society for some time now, and they have been responsible for several changes to the CAD Society...

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By Russ Henke on 2/6/2009 5:59 AM

The legacy lingers if not the man. Already 14 months old and counting, Bush 43’s second recession in 8 years dealt another body blow to the staggering US economy in January 2009.

The US labor department reported just this morning that US employers eliminated 598,000 more jobs in January, the most since 1974, and drove the US unemployment rate to 7.6%, further proof that the nation's job climate continues to deteriorate at an alarming pace with no end in sight.

The latest net total of actual job losses for January 2009 was far worse than the eye-popping figure of 524,000 that economists had been predicting. Job reductions in November and December also were deeper than previously reported, and no doubt January’s numbers will increase as well.

Think we need a Stimulus Bill passed quickly? Think tax cuts alone will do the trick?

By Russ Henke on 1/30/2009 5:39 AM

On January 22, 2009, a blog entry in this space discussed the impact of the general US economic collapse on a small EDA IP supplier (Virage Logic) located in Silicon Valley. We promised the following: “Virage Logic's management will announce first-quarter fiscal year 2009 results on Wednesday, January 28, 2009. We’ll keep an eye on them for ya.”Well, Virage Logic followed through and on January 28, 2009 did report its financial results for the first fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2008. Total revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was reported as $11.3 million, compared with $14.1 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2008 and $15.5 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008. The $11.3 million was right in the middle of the revised revenue range estimated on December 30, 2008.As reported under US generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Virage Logic’s official net loss for the first quarter of fiscal 2009 was reported January 28 at $2.6 million, or ($0.11) per share, compared with net income...

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By Russ Henke on 1/26/2009 6:08 AM

For those who may not make it a regular practice to read Frank Rich’s New York Times op-ed piece every Sunday, please allow me to recommend it to your attention.

Yesterday’s Frank Rich column (“No Time for Poetry”) was especially important, as it contained a concise explanation of the challenge to all Americans (of all political stripes) that was inherent in President Obama’s Inaugural Address of January 20, 2009. It helps set the stage for the cooperation that will be required for us to pull ourselves out of the deep and dangerous economic quagmire of 2008 – 2009.

Copy and Paste this URL into your browser:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/opinion/25rich.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=print

By Russ Henke on 1/22/2009 7:13 AM

In past months, blog entries in this space have described the impact of the collapsing US and worldwide economy on relatively large Mechanical CAD (MCAD) and Electronic Design Automation (EDA) vendors, such as Autodesk, Cadence, Mentor Graphics, Synopsys, and the like. But of course, smaller providers in similar market niches are also affected, sometimes with very harsh results. Take Virage Logic, for example. Virage Logic is a provider of semiconductor intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. The company’s product portfolio includes embedded SRAMs, embedded NVMs, embedded test and repair, logic libraries, memory development software, and DDR memory controller subsystems.Virage Logic is one of six public Electronic IP suppliers located in Silicon Valley; Virage’s annual revenues rank it approximately in the middle of this competitive six-pack. But the dominant market lead belongs to ARM Holdings based in the UK; ARM’s revenues are 5X its nearest IP rival, and ARM is the only one...

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By Russ Henke on 1/21/2009 6:56 AM

Yesterday, January 20, 2009, was a banner day for hundreds of millions of people across the USA and around the world, as Barack Obama was inaugurated the 44th US President.There were even elements of good business news that broke through. For example, the Wall Street Journal reported, "Bucking the trend of high-tech competitors, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) posted a 12% gain in fourth-quarter profit and gave an upbeat outlook for 2009." IBM said that in spite of facing "an extremely difficult economic environment," it predicts it will "continue to benefit from the increasing profitability of its software and services businesses." IBM asserted that "customers are continuing to sign up for outsourcing and other services contracts." The WS Journal also reported that "Fiat, Chrysler and Cerberus Capital Management...announced that they have signed a non-binding term sheet to establish a global strategic alliance." As a "consideration for Fiat Group's contribution to the alliance of strategic assets,...

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By Russ Henke on 1/20/2009 7:00 AM

Note: This blog entry was first posted on January 16, 2009.Further to the impact of the US economic collapse previously discussed in this blog space, on January 15, 2009 Autodesk, Inc. announced a restructuring plan to reduce its annual operating expenses. The company anticipates the restructuring will result in annual pre-tax cost savings of approximately $130 million annually starting in its fiscal year 2010. As part of its restructuring plan, Autodesk plans to reduce its staff by approximately 750 employees, representing approximately 10% of the company's global workforce. The company also plans to consolidate certain facilities. The actions are in addition to the ongoing cost reduction initiatives previously announced, which included a hiring freeze, business travel restrictions, and other reductions in its operating expenses. As a result of this restructuring, the company anticipates taking a pre-tax charge in the range of $65 million to $75 million. For more info, copy and paste the following URL into your...

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By Russ Henke on 1/14/2009 7:21 AM

Despite widespread public skepticism that she is the right choice, on January 13, 2009 Yahoo named former Autodesk chief executive Carol Bartz as its new CEO in an effort to revive the struggling Internet company. Bartz replaces Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang.Yahoo has been suffering from slowing growth and tough competition from Google. Many Yahoo investors are still upset over the failed $47.5 billion takeover bid by Microsoft in 2008 ($33 per share), which given the subsequent collapse of the US economy, might have been the right move for Yahoo. On January 13, 2009 Yahoo stock fell 1% to $12.10.Now 60 years old, Carol Bartz led Autodesk for 14 years. Its annual revenue grew five-fold by the time she stepped down in 2006, while its share price increased 10-fold during her tenure. Bartz remains as chairwoman of Autodesk. She's also on the board of Cisco Systems, alongside Yang, in addition to serving on the boards of Intel and NetApp.Despite Carol’s spectacular success at Autodesk, skeptics worry whether she’s the...

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By Russ Henke on 1/13/2009 7:00 AM

Further to previous blog entries in this space concerning the debate over the US government helping the Big 3 US auto companies weather the current recession, comes the following news from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers:DEARBORN, Mich., Jan 11 /PRNewswire/ -- If the Detroit Three gradually disappeared, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, the Koreans, and the Chinese would eventually fill the gap. In "Factory Man," a new autobiography being published in February 2009 by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME; http://www.sme.org), author James E. Harbour says there is an even greater long-term risk. Profits from the American auto industry would largely be sent overseas, and millions of shareholders would go broke. Worse, the foreign companies would keep their major engineering operations at home.In his book "Factory Man," Harbour says what America needs right now is a good jolt of the power of the factory. During recent Washington hearings, he viewed elected officials playing a game of liquidation roulette with...

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By Russ Henke on 1/9/2009 6:51 AM

EDA vendor Cadence has been a frequent topic in this blog space since last Fall.Yesterday, January 8, 2009 Cadence announced that it has given up its search for an outside CEO and has unanimously appointed Lip-Bu Tan as president and chief executive officer, effective immediately. Tan had been the interim vice chairman of the Board of Directors and member of the Interim Office of the Chief Executive. Consequent to the appointment of Tan, the Interim Office of the Chief Executive has been dissolved. John Shoven will continue to serve as chairman of the Board of Directors. Charlie Huang will serve as senior vice president and chief strategy officer; and Kevin Palatnik will continue to serve as senior vice president and chief financial officer. Lip-Bu Tan has been a member of Cadence's Board of Directors since 2004, and serves as a member of the Finance and Technology Committees of the Board. Tan continues to serve as chairman of Walden International, a venture capital firm he founded in 1987. He has also been associated...

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By Russ Henke on 1/9/2009 6:05 AM

The Labor Department today revealed W’s last lame-duck 2008 “gift” to the US economy…another 524,000 jobs lost in December.

Also, new revisions for both October and November turn out to be even deeper than previously estimated. Revised figures show that US employers slashed 584,000 positions in November as well as 423,000 in October.

For all of 2008, the US economy lost a net total of 2.6 million jobs. That’s the most in one year since 1945, folks!

By Russ Henke on 1/5/2009 7:15 AM

If you are interested in what caused the 2008 US Financial Mess, and in suggestions for repairing the damage, you would be well-advised to read two back-to-back articles that appeared in the Sunday January 4, 2009 New York Times by Michael Lewis and David Einhorn, entitled,

“The End of the Financial World as We Know It”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04lewiseinhorn.html?_r=1&th&emc=th


“How to Repair a Broken Financial World”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04lewiseinhornb.html?th&emc=th

By Russ Henke on 1/1/2009 7:10 AM

Happy New Year !!

Let’s all work to make 2009 far more healthful and prosperous for everyone than 2008!

By Russ Henke on 12/30/2008 8:55 AM

As previously discussed in this blog space, the Bush administration was slow and grudging in helping out the critical US auto industry, exacting many concessions and rules before it recently parted with a few billion dollars. Here is an update:The New York Times reported today that "The Treasury Department has agreed to take a stake of $5 billion in GMAC, the auto lending company, and agreed to lend $1 billion to General Motors to help GMAC reorganize itself as a bank holding company." The Treasury Department said "it would buy $5 billion in senior preferred equity with an 8 percent dividend from GMAC. It also said it is lending up to $1 billion to GM to help GMAC reorganize itself as a bank holding company. The agency said it was using funds from the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act's Troubled Asset Relief Program to buy the GMAC equity make the loan to G.M." The Wall Street Journal also reported, "The move represents the second tranche of government aid that redounds to the benefit of...

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By Russ Henke on 12/19/2008 6:01 AM

As part of its continuing program of acquisitions to build analysis and simulation capability, Autodesk announced this week that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire ALGOR, Inc. for approximately $34 million.

Headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, ALGOR's computer aided engineering (CAE) software is used for product design and development in the automotive, aerospace, medical, consumer products, defense, energy and utilities industries.

The acquisition will strengthen the Autodesk solution for digital prototyping with advanced simulation functionality, including multiphysics, mechanical event simulation and fluid flow.

By Russ Henke on 12/14/2008 5:44 PM

Electronic Design Automation (EDA) vendor Cadence Design Systems has been a frequent subject for blog entries in this space for months, especially since its CEO and four other executives suddenly resigned back in October 2008. Simultaneously, the company also delayed reporting its Q3 2008 financial results to launch an investigation of its financial methods and practices for all of 2008.Well, on December 10, 2008, Cadence finally reported the results of said investigation, and the news was not pretty.Cadence said it actually lost $169 million, or 67 cents per share, for Q3 2008, which certainly compares unfavorably with profit of $72.7 million, or 24 cents per share, in Q3 2007. The Q3 2008 revenue of course also declined dramatically, falling 42% to $232 million from $401 million in Q3 2007. The much-reduced Q3 2008 revenue figure still missed analysts' most-recent pre-December 10 estimates for Q3 2008 of $239 million.The company paid a dear price as it finally announced its Q3 2008 results. Trading near $4.00...

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