To prove that technological capability is still the key ingredient in a customer choice of tools, Magma has started a new marketing program: try it for free. Potential customers can try the Quartz DRC and Quartz LVS physical verification tools for free for sixty days to see for themselves whether or not the results justify the purchase of licenses.

The folkloristic tradition of the EDA industry tells us that technological progress is at the core of success. For sure without the ability to keep up with the manufacturing advances in the semiconductors industry, we would have had to find other employment long time ago. Yet, it is often the case that marketing and sales are the departments that are key in the success of an EDA vendor. One of the factors responsible for the low profile of publicly traded EDA companies is the complaint by investors that our industry is too cutthroat in its pricing policies. The impression is that we compete on price, not on technology. Thus, since spending on development is a requirement, profit margins are low, dividends almost non existent, and stock values unattractive.

We are very conscious of this syndrome, and have tried, with only mild success, various public relations programs aimed at underlining the vital role EDA plays in modern society. If we are critical to the modern way of life, why are we practically unknown to the general public? Since money rules the lives of the vast majority of people, what the financial institutions say is all that counts. And the financial institutions, and thus government, are not interested in EDA.

The picture that is used in the announcement is definitely directed at the wider audience: no technological artwork is used. This is not the layout of a super dense IC, or the result of a verification run. It is a picture you can find in many consumer advertisements. From this point of view the Magma program has an additional advantage: it is visible to people outside our industry, including those financial institutions that are not familiar with the day-to-day processes EDA vendors apply. And go on, admit it: wouldn't you rather have ice cream than broccoli?