SYDNEY -- Altium's chief executive is drawing a sharp distinction between the EDA company and its competitors as top PCB software developers grapple with strategies for consistent growth.

During a recent conference call with analysts, Aram Mirkazemi said Altium has access to the mid- and lower-tier segments of the market in a way that its larger competitors do not, and asserted that it has an inherent advantage in adapting to changes in the marketplace.

"Companies like Mentor, Cadence, Synopsys and PTC are mostly acquiring companies as a way of growing. Acquisition is a fundamental part of their growth strategy."

Altium is different, he said, because it looks for acquisitions that can broaden its reach rather than just deepen its relationship with existing customers.  "The range of acquisitions for Altium is much wider than it would be for Cadence or Mentor Graphics," Mirkazemi said. Pointing to its recent decision to buy Octopart, Mirkazemi said those types of acquisitions are uncommon.  

"Octopart is not a traditional EDA company," he said. Rather, it's a specialized search company focusing on electronic parts, he noted.

"The big guys acquire companies that are kind of settled; it's consolidation of operations and costs and revenues."

Such moves, Mirkazemi intimated, are limiting in how they set up the acquirer to respond to market changes.

"They have a very small number of accounts from which they draw their revenue. They sell to 30 or 40 accounts, and they lock into that mindset where they see what their customers are already buying and go and buy the company.... They don't have access to the mainstream or lower end of the market. (But) it's absolutely critical in determining the next leader in our industry."

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