1.03

Who makes ASIC design services, IP & EDA for AI data centers

Outside firms and licensors — design-services houses, IP blocks, and EDA software — that hyperscalers and accelerator startups use to turn a chip specification into a manufacturable design.

This category sits behind every custom accelerator in the catalog rather than in front of the end customer: it supplies the design implementation, SerDes and CPU IP blocks, and the EDA software used to turn a hyperscaler's or startup's chip specification (see Hyperscaler custom ASICs and Startup accelerators) into something a foundry can actually fab. It doesn't touch the finished silicon directly, but almost no announced AI chip program — merchant or custom — ships without touching at least one firm in this group. The investor angle is toll-road exposure: revenue here tracks the number of active design programs and IP licensing renewals rather than chip unit volumes, so it can grow even in a generation where accelerator shipments are constrained elsewhere in the chain (foundry or packaging). Concentration is high in a few sub-segments — a small number of firms dominate EDA software and CPU core licensing — which gives those positions unusual pricing power relative to the fragmented design-services side, where competition among design houses for the same customer program is more common.

AI delta: Every hyperscaler and well-funded AI startup now wants its own accelerator design, which has pulled design-services, IP licensing, and EDA demand up well beyond what general-purpose chip design alone would generate.

Appears at:Enterprise / small coloLarge colo / hyperscale buildingAI campusGW-class campus· cooling:any — Not tied to any single facility; revenue tracks the number of active chip design programs across the industry rather than deployed unit count at any one site.

Companies on this part (13)

CompanyRoleOwnershipTickerPrice1dConfidenceNote
Alchipservicepublic3661.TW3495 TWD-5.9%inferred
ArmservicepublicARM210 USD+1.0%inferredCPU IP
BroadcomservicepublicAVGO322 USD-0.3%inferred
CadenceservicepublicCDNS316 USD+2.2%inferredEDA and IP
CredoservicepublicCRDO147 USD-9.1%inferredSerDes IP
Faradayservicepublic3035.TW192 TWD-2.8%inferred
Global Unichipservicepublic3443.TW7585 TWD-4.9%inferred
MarvellservicepublicMRVL229 USD+3.7%inferred
MediaTekservicepublic2454.TW4010 TWD-3.1%inferred
RambusservicepublicRMBS85.65 USD+0.8%inferred
Socionextservicepublic6526.T1756 JPY-0.5%inferred
SynopsysservicepublicSNPS430 USD+1.8%inferred
Alphawaveserviceunknowninferred

Who competes here

The same table read the other way: every company above competes for ASIC design services, IP & EDA sockets. Confidence tags matter — an inferred placement is a lead, not a confirmed rivalry.

Seen in real machines

ASIC design services, IP & EDA is named in 1 of the rack teardowns and supercomputer breakdowns on this site. Each line below is a piece of that machine. The companies shown are the ones named on that line, not necessarily the maker of this part.

Nearby parts

Latest feed

Questions about ASIC design services, IP & EDA

What is ASIC design services, IP & EDA?
Outside firms and licensors — design-services houses, IP blocks, and EDA software — that hyperscalers and accelerator startups use to turn a chip specification into a manufacturable design.
Which companies make ASIC design services, IP & EDA for AI data centers?
This catalog lists 13 companies on ASIC design services, IP & EDA, 12 of them with listed equity: Alchip, Arm, Broadcom, Cadence, Credo, Faraday, Global Unichip, Marvell, MediaTek, Rambus, and 3 more.
How does AI change demand for ASIC design services, IP & EDA?
Every hyperscaler and well-funded AI startup now wants its own accelerator design, which has pulled design-services, IP licensing, and EDA demand up well beyond what general-purpose chip design alone would generate.
How reliable are these ASIC design services, IP & EDA supplier placements?
The 13 placements on this part break down as 13 inferred. "disclosed" means the company or a filing says so; "reported" comes from trade press or a reference-design list; "inferred" is a taxonomy lead with no citation yet.

Sources: placements without a source URL come from the taxonomy seed and are tagged accordingly. How this data is built.· Markdown · JSON