Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc. specializes in CAD and semiconductor design, Synopsys provides software, intelligent development, and engineering services for the most complex design, validation, and system and production tasks. Since 1986, engineers around the world have been using Synopsys technology to create billions of microchips and systems.

Synopsys works in the field of intelligent technology development for microprocessors, which offers engineers a wide range of high-quality tools for SoC implementation as well as providing professional technical support.

Performance indicators

2021: Revenue growth of 14.1%

In 2021, Synopsys revenue amounted to $4.2 billion, an increase of 14.1% compared to 2020.

History

2023: Bought software for 400 million and were disconnected from support. Russian chip developer sues Synopsys local office

Russian chip developer SPC Elvis has gone through three courts in an attempt to recover from the Russian office of the American CAD developer for Synopsys electronics unjust enrichment in the amount of 81.4 million rubles. In September 2023, the cassation court, like the two previous instances, refused to fully satisfy its claims - the company managed to sue only part of the amount. Read more here.

2022

Synopsys is looking for employees in Russia to take them to Armenia

As TAdviser discovered, Synopsys, the world's largest CAD developer for electronics design, intends to hire dozens of IT specialists in Russia for their subsequent export to Armenia. On the recruiting website of the hh.ru, the company in June placed 56 vacancies in the Russian segment^[1]. Synopsys is looking for programmers, developers, system engineers, testers, offering them relocation to Armenia and support for this process on its part, as part of a social package.

Synopsys has been present in Armenia since 2004, developing, among other things, a development center. And in 2010, Synopsys opened an R&D center in St. Petersburg, in 2011 - a representative office in Moscow. By that time, Synopsys already had two teams of programmers in these cities. Moscow went to Synopsys as a result of the takeover of Virtio, which was engaged in system-level design technology and, with the help of Russian programmers, created software for modeling integrated circuits. And the St. Petersburg team was developing semiconductor device design tools for the German company Sigma-C, which Synopsys bought^[2].

As of May 2022, the total number of Synopsys staff worldwide is about 17 thousand people

Since the 2000s, the Synopsys development center in Armenia has grown significantly: now there are about 1 thousand people from the total 17 thousandth^[3] the global staff of the company, this is one of the largest IT employers in the country. In the St. Petersburg center, according to the database of legal entities Kontur. Focus, "in 2021, a little more than 80 people worked. In 2021, only 5 employees worked in the office in Moscow.

In 2006, Synopsys Vice President for Strategic Markets Development Rich Goldman explained the company's bet on development in Armenia by the fact that there are "many qualified specialists with a high level of training, many technical universities, good infrastructure, a democratic government that listens to the needs of industry and shows readiness for cooperation"^[4]

In Russia, in 2013, the main problem in Synopsys was considered a shortage of personnel: "The market for specialists in Russia is small, and companies literally steal them from each other"^[5]. Synopsys tried to improve the situation by promoting educational programs in Russia.

The chief engineer, the head of Synopsys Armenia Yervand Zoryan in June 2022 noted that in Armenia in the IT sphere there is a shortage of personnel of 4 thousand people^[6]. If earlier there was no large influx of IT specialists from Russia to Armenia, now, against the background of the changed geopolitical and economic situation, more of them are ready to move to this country.

In Armenia, Synopsys has one of the largest groups outside the United States "(photo - staff.am)"

Sergei Pilkin, CEO of Eremex, the leading Russian CAD developer for designing electronic equipment, noted in a conversation with TAdviser that there has always been a shortage of qualified personnel and remains now. Moreover, this does not apply only to the IT sphere or specifically to the CAD sphere. It's just that in recent years there has been a general realization that a country cannot be sovereign without its own technology, especially for electronics. And restricting access to modern CAD was the first thing Western countries did in the form of sanctions.

After the start of a special operation in Ukraine, foreign CAD developers, who traditionally used the Russian electronic industry, including for the design of microprocessors, stopped selling new licenses in Russia, and the software already purchased will not be updated. In its report for the 2nd quarter of 2022, Synopsys noted that due to the high-tech sanctions imposed by the United States on Russia, the company can no longer supply its technologies there and support Russian customers^[7]. And before that, the company condemned what was happening in Ukraine.

Without the use of automated systems, the design process itself quickly slides to the level of the "Stone Age." There are, of course, craftsmen who can successfully design, without any automation, how our left-hander once forged a flea, but this is rare. CAD development is an extremely difficult area, since it requires not only very high qualifications in the field of programming, but also very good knowledge of mathematics. And this is now extremely rare, - says Sergey Pilkin.

The general director of Eremex did not hear that Synopsys specifically made any job offers to their employees, but he knows well that this is done regularly by other Eremex competitors. Moreover, such conditions have always been: large Western companies have much greater resources than Russian ones, "and have always shamelessly used this to lure our employees."

Just now the situation has changed dramatically for us for the better. Western companies jointly close Russian offices and offer their employees relocation: Cadence to Ireland, Siemens with Synopsys to Armenia, Hynix to Poland. And not everyone wants to move to another country, especially if these specialists are no longer young. Therefore, our company has now opened a window of opportunity to hire highly qualified specialists from these companies leaving Russia that own unique technologies in our field. This is especially true in the field of CAD for chip design. I was surprised by the number of such specialists in Russia. I cannot say that all modern CADs in this area were created in Russia. This is not the case, international teams worked on them. But the fact that there were more than a dozen Russian specialists in these teams, I can now say with confidence, "Sergei Pilkin told TAdviser.

However, he was unpleasantly surprised that new players appeared on the market with whom the company had not crossed paths before. These are Chinese IT giants, such as Huawei.

They began to actively buy up Russian specialists, offering a lot of money. And, unlike Western companies, these, unfortunately, are not going to go anywhere, - says the general director of Eremex.

So that employees are not lured away, you need, firstly, to pay them a salary adequate to their qualifications, added Sergey Pilkin. No, even the most loyal employee, will not resist if he is offered a salary 2-3 times higher elsewhere. Secondly, in Eremex, work is organized in such a way that each employee directly sees his own contribution to the common cause and can affect the final result. And the bonus system, which allows a person to receive significantly more than just a salary, is aimed precisely at encouraging the whole project team to obtain a successful final result. It is this involvement in the ultimate success that large Western companies often cannot give, the general director of Eremex believes.

Third, we are trying to create the best possible working conditions for our employees. We have a completely free schedule. Some employees prefer to work in the office. For them, we have a well-equipped office in Moscow next to the metro. Others prefer to work remotely. However, most employees work in a mixed schedule: meetings and meetings are held in the office, and they prefer to develop at home in solitude. And, finally, for many years I have been choosing a team of people with ideological motivation, and these are not those people who, for the sake of immediate benefit, will leave the company in which they worked for many years, "Sergei Pilkin told TAdviser.

In May 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that Russia has "a traditionally strong school for the development of CAD," but domestic programs "do not cover the entire list of necessary tools." At the same time, a consortium of domestic system software developers proposed to prepare a strategy for the development of Russian computer-aided design (CAD) systems for electronics with funding of 20-30 billion rubles. The Ministry of Industry and Trade then said that "the initiative is being worked out."^[8]

Synopsys suspected of transferring technology to Huawei and SMIC

The Commerce Department is USA investigating an incident involving Synopsys. It is assumed that American the developer software transferred key technologies to Chinese companies and Huawei SMIC. This was announced in April by Bloomberg, citing its own unnamed sources. Huawei and SMIC are blacklisted by the Huawei government. It is believed that the companies included in it pose a threat to US national security. Therefore, the transfer of any information or technologies from the United States to these companies is prohibited by^[9]

Synopsys buys WhiteHat Security from NTT for $330 million

Synopsys in April signed a final agreement to acquire app protection solutions provider WhiteHat Security from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. for $330 million in cash. WhiteHat Security has been owned by NTT since 2019 and has been rebranded as NTT Application Security. Founded in 2001 by former information security officer Yahoo Inc. Jeremiah Grossman, WhiteHat offers website security solutions. The company's cloud service offers a vulnerability management platform and security analysis services that provide actionable information for customers. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fiscal third quarter of 2022. Synopsys noted the acquisition will be roughly neutral for fiscal 2022 adjusted earnings per share^[10]

2019

Synopsys bought the developer of tools for testing automotive software QTronic

In August 2019, Synopsys announced the acquisition of a developer of automotive testing tools. ON QTronic More. here

Huawei denied access to Synopsys software updates for chip development

Synopsys, the world's largest supplier of CAD for chip development, has stopped providing updates to its software to Huawei Technologies. Citing Nikkei, the source reports that the leadership of the American company Synopsys ordered its employees to deprive Huawei of access to updates after the US Department of Commerce added Huawei to the list of companies that have limited access to American technology. Synopsys has also suspended Huawei's sales of new intellectual property needed to design^[11] chips^[12] for^[13].

Among the largest companies in the semiconductor industry by revenue

Крупнейшие компании в индустрии semiconductors by revenue in 2019

2012: Synopsys bought SpringSoft for $406 million

In August 2012, Synopsys bought software SpringSoft Inc, a development company located in Hsinchu, Taiwan, for $406 million. USA The acquisition should complement Synopsys' technology portfolio and help the company expand its suite of custom tools CAD for important customers. This deal is Synopsys' third acquisition. In November 2011, the company announced a deal to buy Magma Design Automation for about $500 million, and last month Synopsys acquired^[14], a private company^[15]

Notes