SAN JOSE -- Sales of printed circuit board and multichip module design tools jumped 42.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter, the leading electronics design software trade group said today.

PCB and MCM design tool revenues reached $235.4 million for the period ended Dec. 31, reported the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance. The four-quarters moving average for PCB & MCM, which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters, increased 13.5%.

Overall electronic design automation industry revenue increased 18.9% to $2.46 billion, compared to $2.06 billion a year ago. The four-quarters moving average increased 9.2%.

"The EDA industry reported double-digit growth in all four geographic regions – Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Japan, and Asia/Pacific. The Americas reported more than $1 billion for Q4, an all-time record, and Japan grew in double digits for the full year," said Walden C. Rhines, board sponsor for the ESD Alliance MSS and chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics. "All product categories also saw very solid fourth quarter growth with CAE, semiconductor IP, IC physical design & verification and PCB/MCM reporting double-digit increases."

For the quarter, computer-aided engineering generated revenue of $757.5 million, up 17.4% from 2015. The four-quarters moving average for CAE increased 5.3%. IC physical design & verification revenue was up 11.5% to $495.6 million, while the four-quarters moving average increased 8.6%. Semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) revenue totaled $856.4 million, up 22%. The four-quarters moving average increased 13.5%. Services revenue ticked up 2.8% to $110.1 million, and its four-quarters moving average increased 2.3%.

The Americas, EDA's largest region, purchased $1048.5 million of EDA products and services, an increase of 15.7%. The four-quarters moving average for the Americas increased 6.2%. Revenue in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) increased 20.6% on revenues of $389.9 million. The EMEA four-quarters moving average increased 5.4%. Revenue from Japan increased 20.3% to $227.7 million compared to 2015. The four-quarters moving average for Japan increased 12.7%. Asia/Pacific (APAC) revenue increased 22.2% to $788.9 million, and the four-quarters moving average increased 14.6%.

Employment in the sector rose 6.6% from a year ago and 2.5% sequentially to 36,412 professionals.

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