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Critical node· Silicon · Critical anchor
EDA, Synopsys & Cadence
Sunnyvale / San Jose, United States37.39°N 122.02°W
computed criticality20/100
reading
Synopsys ≈31% + Cadence ≈30%; ≈74% with Siemens EDA
2024Fault line
No modern chip is designed without the software of two Californian houses: Synopsys and Cadence form a near-duopoly, rising to ≈74% of the market with Siemens EDA. The lock is contractual as much as technical. In 2025, Washington briefly suspended then restored China's access to these tools: a software embargo is enough to freeze an entire industry.
Actors
Synopsys (Sunnyvale)
Cadence (San Jose)
Siemens EDA (Wilsonville)
Feeds 2
TSMC, HsinchuSilicon↗Nvidia, Santa ClaraCompute↗Sources