SAN JOSE -- Boosted by a spike in PCB software sales, electronic design automation industry revenue rose 16% year-over-year in the first quarter to $1446.4 million, the EDA Consortium said today.

Sequentially, EDA revenue fell 4.1%, while the four-quarter moving average, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased 14.2%.

"First quarter 2011 results represent a significant increase in all product categories compared to the first quarter 2010, with CAE, PCB & MCM, IC Physical Design & Verification, and Semiconductor Intellectual Property all showing double-digit increases," said Wally Rhines, EDAC chair and chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics. "Geographically, all regions realized increased revenue, with the Americas, Japan, and Asia/Pacific regions posting double-digit increases."

Employment fell 1.2% from last year but grew 1.4% from the December quarter.

For the quarter, sales of computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools rose 15.7% to $530.6 million, IC physical design and verification rose 16.1% to $318.5 million, printed circuit board and multichip module tools shot up 28.3% to $140.4 million, and semiconductor intellectual property revenue jumped 15.7% to totaled $371.4 million. Services revenue rose 2.2% to $85.6 million.

The Americas, EDA's largest region, purchased $602.4 million of EDA products and services, up 22.2%. Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) were up 7.8% to $241.8 million. Japan rose 17.7% to $295.3 million. Asia/Pacific (APAC) increased 10% to $307 million.