Synopsys, the US chip design software giant, is preparing to walk away from the manufacturing control software that helps run the world’s semiconductor fabs, and to redirect the engineers behind it towards the far more lucrative business of AI chip design.
The plan, reported by Reuters and attributed to six people briefed on the matter, is a pointed retreat from the factory floor for a firm whose AI pivot has already drawn a $2bn vote of confidence from Nvidia.
According to two of those sources, Synopsys told more than 10 chipmakers, among them Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Kioxia, and Qorvo, that a suite of its manufacturing tools had reached “end of life.” The notices, sent in April and May, mean no future versions, only maintenance, with talks on remaining support obligations due to conclude by July.
At the centre of the decision sit two products, the Equipment Engineering System (EES) and Fault Detection and Classification (FDC). Two sources described the software as the nervous system of a fabrication plant, watching equipment in real time and flagging anomalies before they cascade into costly defects.
Synopsys did not name the products publicly. A spokesperson told Reuters the company was “discontinuing certain manufacturing analytics products, which are older diagnostic tools not in our customers’ critical paths of production,” while insisting it would keep investing in the area and honour existing contracts.
