5 PCB Design Manufacturers in 2023

This section provides an overview for pcb design as well as their applications and principles. Also, please take a look at the list of 5 pcb design manufacturers and their company rankings. Here are the top-ranked pcb design companies as of December, 2023: 1.CSi Global Alliance, inc., 2.ZUKEN Inc., 3.Siemens Digital Industries Software.

Table of Contents

What Is PCB Design?
List of 5 PCB Design Manufacturers
List of 14 PCB Design Products

What Is PCB Design?

PCB design is the design of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).

A printed circuit board is a so-called patterned circuit board in which copper is applied to a PCB board made of materials such as glass, fiber, or paper phenol, and then etched using a solvent known as etching, leaving only the copper foil for the circuit portions.

In other words, PCB design is the detailed design of patterns and layer configurations on PCB boards, along with chip components such as ICs and LCRs to be placed, using dedicated circuit diagrams, simulators, wiring layouts, and CAD tools for electromagnetic field, heat generation, and stress analysis.

Uses of PCB Designs

The ultimate purpose of PCB designs is to be used in practical applications in the form of PCBs, which are used inside electrical appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and televisions. The tools used to materialize the PCB as an electronic circuit board to be built into the product are dedicated schematic CAD and board pattern design CAD.

The PCB design procedure generally consists of designing an electronic circuit, converting the circuit into an actual parts list, and then creating a copper foil pattern circuit on the board in the form of a pattern that represents the circuit and mounted parts.

Principles of PCB Designs

To explain the principle of PCB designs, it is necessary to understand it from the principle of PCB, which, as mentioned above, refers to printed circuit boards, which are made of insulators such as glass, fiber, or paper that do not conduct electricity. The PCB is the result of etching the copper foil except for the areas that are to be electrically conductive.

The pattern design information necessary to form the pattern circuit on the PCB is the PCB design itself, which is the embodiment of how the circuit will be realized on the PCB. The pattern design information is the electronic circuit to realize the necessary functions of the product at the first stage, as described in the usage of the product as the main source of information.

Without this circuit diagram, nothing can begin. After the circuit diagram and mounted components such as ICs and chip components are created and registered in CAD, the circuit diagram information is then dropped into a dedicated board pattern design CAD system. This work is usually handled by staff dedicated to pattern design or by an outsourcing company.

The circuit designer is in charge of inputting the necessary information, and the minimum information required at that time is the board dimensions, hole diameters, board, and copper foil thicknesses, and the placement of mounted components, which must be specified in advance.

List of 5 PCB Design Manufacturers

*Including some distributors, etc.

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United States of America
Japan

- - Cadence Design Systems Manufacturer
    PCB design solution - OrCAD PCB Designer
  - Website
    
    Listed Company (NASDAQ)
    
    Founded: 1988
    
    United States, California
    
    Company Profile
  - Address: 2655 Seely Avenue, San Jose, California, United States of America
  Manufacturer Overview
  
  Cadence Design Systems, established in 1988, is a US-based manufacturer specializing in electronic design automation (EDA) software, providing cutting-edge solutions for chip and system design to enable groundbreaking products for electronic systems and semiconductor companies. Their digital design tools create complex integrated circuits (ICs) for applications like smartphones, IoT devices, and automotive electronics. Advanced analog and mixed-signal design tools develop high-performance ICs for data converters and power management. Cadence's system design and verification tools facilitate complex electronic systems like ASICs and FPGAs. By adopting their software solutions, customers streamline design processes, reduce time-to-market, and gain a competitive edge.
- - Altium
    Altium Designer
  - Website
    
    Founded: 1985
    
    United States, California
    
    Company Profile
  - Address: 4225 Executive Square, Suite 700 La Jolla, California, United States of America
  Company Overview
  
  In its 35-year journey, Altium has cemented its position in the PCB design research and development sector. Originating in 1985, Altium is one of the earliest providers of PCB design tools. Today, the company is recognized for its PCB software tool. These tools primarily cater to the needs of enterprises with their comprehensive, digitally integrated electronic design solutions. In addition, Altium tackles challenges faced in data management with Altium Designer, the Nexar API, Altium 365, and other solutions. The company equips designers and engineers by leveraging components and data for optimal design outcomes.
- - ZUKEN Inc. Manufacturer
    PCB design
  - Website
    
    Japan
    
    Company Profile
  - Address: 2-25-1 Edahigashi, Tsuzuki-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan
  Manufacturer Overview
  
  Zuken is a software manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, specializing in electrical and electronic design solutions. Their product lineup includes CR-8000, CADSTAR, E3.series, and DS-2, which cater to system-level design, PCB design, electrical design, and wiring design. These software tools are utilized in various industries such as electronics manufacturing, automotive, aerospace and defense, telecommunications, and industrial automation, enabling efficient and streamlined design and development processes for a wide range of electrical and electronic components.
- - CSi Global Alliance, inc.
    WinPCB
  - Website
    
    Founded: 1999
    
    Japan
    
    Company Profile
  - Address: Yodogawa 6 Bankan 4F 3-1-22 Toyosaki, Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan
  Company Overview
  
  CSi Global Alliance was established in 1991 in Osaka Japan as a supplier of EDA software for solutions to manufacturing processes for companies. The company helps clients decide on the required software, measuring instruments, and solutions for any manufacturing procedure. The company helps with R&D, material characterization, and parts selection. They further introduce Circuit Design and Simulation with further board manufacturing, component mounting, assessment, and measurements. For these various tasks, there are a number of software such as circuit diagram design tools there is WinSchematic and WinSpice for circuit simulation. WinPCB, WinSignal, CSiEDA Viewer 6, and WinGerber software are also used.
- - Siemens Digital Industries Software
    PCB Design
  - Website
    
    Company Profile
  Company Overview
  
  Siemens Software is a supplier of industrial software solutions based in Texas. The company offers solutions in various industries and applications, as they have designed Siemens Xcelerator, which allows the creation of a digital twin of any process or product within a company. Siemens PLM Software is for Product Lifecycle Management from design to disposal and also Siemens EDA Software is for electronic design automation to enable applications such as Ai, cloud computing, etc. There is also Siemens Digital Industries Software that serves numerous industries like Aerospace and Defense, Consumer Products and Retail, Media, Telecommunications, Marine, and more.

PCB Design Manufacturer Ranking

*Including some distributors, etc.

Ranking as of December 2023 in United States of America

Derivation Method

Rank	Company	Click Share
1	CSi Global Alliance, inc.	36.4%
2	ZUKEN Inc.	18.2%
3	Siemens Digital Industries Software	18.2%
4	Cadence Design Systems	18.2%
5	Altium	9.1%

Ranking as of December 2023 Globally

Derivation Method

Rank	Company	Click Share
1	CSi Global Alliance, inc.	33.3%
2	Siemens Digital Industries Software	25.0%
3	ZUKEN Inc.	16.7%
4	Cadence Design Systems	16.7%
5	Altium	8.3%

Derivation Method

The ranking is calculated based on the click share within the pcb design page as of December 2023. Click share is defined as the total number of clicks for all companies during the period divided by the number of clicks for each company.

Number of Employees

Newly Established Company

CSi Global Alliance, inc.: 1999 (24 years ago)
Cadence Design Systems: 1988 (35 years ago)
Altium: 1985 (38 years ago)

Company with a History

Altium: 1985 (38 years ago)
Cadence Design Systems: 1988 (35 years ago)
CSi Global Alliance, inc.: 1999 (24 years ago)