Altium

Altium Competitive Intelligence & Landscape

altium.com ·

Altium
ForesightIQ Predictions

What is Altium likely to do next?

ForesightIQ connects Altium's hiring, product, web, ad, and market signals to forecast strategic moves — often months before they're announced.

Hiring signal

Senior hiring patterns point to a planned enterprise product line launching within two quarters.

High confidence · Next 1–2 quarters
Product signal

Quiet changes to docs and pricing pages signal an upcoming usage-based pricing tier and new API surface.

Likely · Next quarter
Market signal

Ad spend and partnership activity indicate a push into the mid-market segment across two new regions.

Plausible · Next 2–3 quarters
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Overview

Altium Overview

Altium (altium.com) is a global leader in software solutions for electronic product creation, with over 35 years of expertise in helping engineers build advanced technology [altium.com]. The company provides a unified platform that connects design, collaboration, and manufacturing, streamlining the entire electronics development process.

Altium aims to redefine electronic product creation in a software-defined world, connecting every stakeholder, discipline, and phase to power modern electronics development [altium.com].

Altium's core offerings include Altium Designer, a robust PCB design tool, and Altium 365, a cloud-enabled platform for coordination, reviews, and data alignment [altium.com]. Their solutions span from Octopart for component discovery and evaluation to Altium Agile Teams for structured collaboration and Altium Agile Enterprise for enterprise-level electronics development with a governed, extensible, and intelligent platform [altium.com]. These tools cater to a wide range of industries and companies of all sizes, ensuring context-rich engagement from parts to possibilities and a digital thread at scale [altium.com].

Altium has been publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX code: ALU) since its IPO in 1999 [www.altium.com/company/investor-relations/publications-and-reports/annual-reports]. While specific founding year and overall company size in terms of employees are not explicitly stated on the provided pages, the company's long history since 1999 and its extensive suite of products indicate a well-established global presence. Its main offices are located in Sydney, Australia, with additional offices globally [cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/2023%20Annual%20Report_0.pdf]. The company's mission is to enable smarter electronics and smarter companies by providing comprehensive tools that facilitate seamless electronic product creation [altium.com].

Competitors

Altium Competitors

Altium (altium.com) is a prominent software company specializing in unified electronics development, offering solutions for PCB design, collaboration, and manufacturing. Its flagship product, Altium Designer, is a comprehensive electronic design automation (EDA) tool that integrates schematic capture, PCB layout, and manufacturing preparation.

Altium differentiates itself by connecting every stakeholder, discipline, and phase of electronics product creation through its platform, emphasizing streamlined collaboration and a digital thread at scale. The company serves a wide range of industries and company sizes, providing solutions that aim to enhance transparency, traceability, and accountability in design processes.

One of Altium's key competitors is Autodesk.

Autodesk offers a broad portfolio of CAD software, including products like AutoCAD, Fusion 360, and Inventor, which provide robust design and engineering capabilities across various industries. While Autodesk products like Fusion 360 can be used for PCB design, Altium Designer is hyper-focused on electronics and PCB-specific workflows, offering a unified environment tailored for these tasks.

Autodesk generally has a larger market share across broader design and engineering sectors, whereas Altium holds a strong position in the specialized PCB design market.

Cadence Design Systems is another significant competitor, particularly in the realm of electronic design automation.

Cadence provides advanced design solutions for semiconductor and systems products, including tools like Allegro and OrCAD, which compete directly with Altium Designer in PCB design and simulation.

Cadence is known for its high-end, full-featured signoff ecosystems with constraint-driven layout and simulation, often catering to large enterprise clients with complex design requirements. In comparison, Altium aims to offer a more integrated and user-friendly experience that connects design, collaboration, and manufacturing seamlessly.

Dassault Systèmes Americas, known for products like SolidWorks and CATIA, offers powerful computer-augmented design and drafting solutions. While SolidWorks can be used for mechanical design in conjunction with PCB design, Altium provides a more specialized and unified platform for electronic product creation.

Dassault Systèmes commands a substantial market share in 3D CAD and product lifecycle management (PLM) across numerous industries, making it a broader engineering software provider compared to Altium's more concentrated focus on electronics.

Siemens EDA (formerly Mentor Graphics) also stands as a formidable competitor.

Siemens EDA specializes in electronic design automation, offering a suite of tools including Mentor PADS and Xpedition, which directly compete with Altium Designer for PCB design, verification, and manufacturing.

Siemens EDA is recognized for its comprehensive tools that address complex design challenges, often appealing to large corporations with intricate electronic systems.

Altium differentiates itself by emphasizing a unified platform experience that simplifies multidisciplinary collaboration and connects all aspects of the design process, from intent through release.

Alternatives

Altium Alternatives

Product & Pricing

Altium Product and Pricing Intelligence

Altium (altium.com) offers a comprehensive platform for unified electronics development, connecting design, collaboration, and manufacturing. The company primarily provides Altium Designer and Altium 365, which are designed to streamline the electronic product creation process. Their offerings cater to individual engineers, small teams, and enterprise-level organizations, focusing on advanced PCB design, secure cloud collaboration, and efficient workflow management. The platform emphasizes integrating various stages of product development to enhance transparency, traceability, and accountability of data.

Altium Develop serves as a core offering, bundling Altium Designer with secure cloud capabilities through Altium 365. This package is priced at $1990 USD per year for the first author, with additional licenses available for $995 USD per year, and includes one Altium Designer author and one workspace for shared projects, libraries, and collaboration. It also provides unlimited workspace users for review, commenting, task management, and BOM access, along with ECAD-MCAD CoDesign.

Altium Develop offers a free 30-day trial without requiring a credit card, allowing potential users to explore its features firsthand. This pricing reflects a recent adjustment, offering the same tools with additional capabilities at a lower price than previous offerings, and is 100% backwards compatible with Altium Designer Standard [https://www.altium.com/develop/move].

Beyond Altium Develop, Altium offers various subscription levels and integrations to meet diverse needs. For example, Altium 365 GovCloud provides a secure platform for government compliance efforts, while the SiliconExpert Integration offers up-to-date component data. These are often priced per user or per integration. Additionally, the Altium BOM Portal is available, with a 30-day trial followed by a cost of $995 per year. The BOM Portal includes features like unlimited users, BOMs, and parts for tracking components and managing lifecycle risks, with advanced parts data extensions as a paid add-on. The Advanced MCAD CoDesigner is available for USD 499 per user/year, allowing synchronization of Altium Designer data with popular MCAD systems [https://www.altium.com/in/platform/pricing].

Hiring & Layoffs

Altium Hiring and Layoffs

Altium (altium.com), a leader in electronics design software, demonstrates a consistent strategy of growth and industry advancement through its hiring practices. The company actively seeks talent to modernize and redefine electronics creation, particularly for the expanding software-defined world. Their career pages on careers.altium.com emphasize a mission to support the industry's demand for billions of new connected devices, underscoring a commitment to innovation and scaling their operations.

While specific recent hiring trends and numbers are not publicly detailed, Altium's career portal showcases various open positions, particularly in engineering. This suggests a continuous need for skilled professionals in areas like PCB design and software development. The company also highlights opportunities for interns through its parent company, Renesas, indicating an investment in developing future talent. Their focus on providing resources and training, such as the Altium Education platform, further signals a strategic effort to cultivate a skilled workforce both internally and within the broader electronics industry, bridging the gap between education and professional careers.

There is no publicly available information on layoffs at Altium, suggesting a stable employment environment. The appointment of Don Cantow as General Manager further indicates a strategic push to accelerate Altium's adoption as an industry platform. This type of leadership change often accompanies a period of growth and strategic expansion, requiring a strong and capable workforce.

Altium's consistent engagement with educational institutions and its emphasis on professional development reinforce a proactive and forward-thinking approach to talent acquisition and retention, aligning with its goals of leading the electronics design sector.

Leadership

Altium Management and Leadership Team

Altium has a well-established leadership team guiding its mission to revolutionize electronic product creation. The company's board of directors, which consists of no less than three and no more than nine members, plays a crucial role in governance and strategic oversight. Key executive directors include Samuel Weiss, Aram Mirkazemi, Lynn Mickleburgh, Simon Kelly, Raelene Murphy, and Sergiy Kostynsky [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/2023%20Annual%20Report_0.pdf]. Samuel Weiss has served as Chairman of the Board since October 4, 2007, and has been instrumental in Altium's growth and leadership for over sixteen years [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/2023%20Annual%20Report_0.pdf].

Aram Mirkazemi holds the position of CEO at Altium. He expressed a strong belief in the critical role of electronics in building a smart and sustainable world, aligning Altium's vision with making electronics accessible [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2024-02/Altium%20enters%20into%20binding%20SIA%20with%20Renesas.pdf]. Recent leadership developments include the appointment of Don Cantow as General Manager of Altium, effective January 1, 2026. This strategic hire is expected to accelerate Altium’s adoption as an industry platform [https://www.altium.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/don-cantow-appointed-general-manager-altium].

Altium's Human Resources Committee is tasked with reviewing and implementing the diversity policy, setting measurable objectives for gender diversity across the Board, senior executives, and the general workforce, and monitoring progress against these objectives [https://www.altium.com/governance/diversity_policy]. Additionally, Chris Donato serves as the Head of Global Sales for Board and Systems, leading efforts to strengthen relationships with Altium’s European customer base through direct sales and support channels [https://www.altium.com/company/newsroom/press-releases/altium-establishes-direct-sales-support-channel-spain-and-italy].

Financials

Altium Financial Performance, Fundraising, M&A

Altium has demonstrated robust financial performance, with consistent revenue growth. For the fiscal year 2023, Altium reported a significant revenue increase of 19.2% to US$263.3 million, striving towards an ambitious US$500 million revenue target by FY26 [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/2023%20Annual%20Report.pdf]. This follows a strong performance in fiscal year 2022, where revenue grew by 22.5% to US$220.8 million [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2022-08/2022%20Annual%20Report.pdf]. The company's revenues from ordinary activities also saw a 10.1% increase to US$189.124 million in the year ended June 2020 [https://cdn.resources.altium.com/fy20_4e_and_annual_report_final_-_signed.pdf], and a 23.1% increase to US$172.752 million in fiscal year 2019 [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2019-08/4e_2019ar_combined.pdf].

Altium's profitability metrics also show a healthy trend. In fiscal year 2023, reported EBITDA was US$96.0 million with an EBITDA margin of 36.5% [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2023-09/2023%20Annual%20Report.pdf]. For the first half of FY24, Altium recorded revenues of US$138.6 million, representing a 16% increase, with an underlying EBITDA margin of 33.4% and profit after tax (PAT) of US$33.0 million, up 11% [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2024-02/ALU%20First%20Half%20Investor%20Presentation%20FINAL.pdf.pdf]. In the first half of FY23, revenue from ordinary activities increased by 15.9% to US$138.558 million, with EBITDA up 3.2% to US$44.689 million and profit after income tax (PAT) up 11.4% to US$33.031 million [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2024-02/ALU%204D%20and%20HY_24.pdf].

The company maintains a strong focus on recurring revenue, which constituted 75.4% of its total revenue in fiscal year 2022 [https://cdn.files.altium.com/sites/default/files/2022-08/2022%20Annual%20Report.pdf].

Altium has been publicly listed since its IPO in 1999 and consistently provides annual reports to investors, showcasing a long history of financial transparency [https://www.altium.com/company/investor-relations/publications-and-reports/annual-reports]. While specific fundraising rounds and detailed M&A activities are not highlighted in the provided text, the consistent financial reporting and investor presentations indicate a mature and well-managed public company focused on organic growth and strategic initiatives to transform the electronics industry [https://www.altium.com/company/investor-relations/publications-and-reports/presentations].

Partnerships

Altium Partnerships, Clients and Vendors

Altium (altium.com) fosters a robust ecosystem of partnerships and integrations to enhance its unified electronics development platform. A significant collaboration is with Renesas Electronics Corporation, a premier semiconductor supplier. This partnership led to the introduction of Renesas 365, Powered by Altium, an industry-first solution designed to streamline electronics system development from silicon selection to system lifecycle management [1]. Furthermore, Renesas has standardized its PCB design and development processes by exclusively adopting Altium's PCB tools and cloud platform [8].

Altium integrates with several key technology providers to offer comprehensive supply chain intelligence and manufacturing capabilities.

Altium 365 integrates with Z2Data, providing users direct access to Z2Data’s extensive supply chain and component database for building resilience in engineering, compliance, and procurement [3]. Similarly, Altium 365 integrates with SiliconExpert, delivering electronic part data and supply chain intelligence directly into the workspace, sourced from component manufacturers [5, 6].

Altium has also partnered with Cofactr and Nexar to offer engineering and procurement teams enhanced visibility and supply resilience throughout the electronic product design and manufacturing lifecycle [4]. For direct component access, Altium has partnered with Digi-Key Electronics, allowing users to access component data and inventory through Altium Designer and Octopart [9].

In terms of manufacturing, Altium and MacroFab have partnered to launch Altimade, an industry-first integrated PCB “Design WITH Manufacturing” application. This integration of Altium’s cloud platform with MacroFab’s digital manufacturing platform represents a significant step towards the digital transformation of the electronics industry [7].

Altium also collaborates with Keysight Technologies Inc., a leading provider of electronic design, test automation, and measurement equipment, who joined Altium's Nexar partner program [10]. Notable clients relying on Altium's solutions include iRobot, the global consumer robot company, which utilizes Altium to overcome PLM integration challenges and maximize its PLM investment [2].

Events

Altium Event Participations

Altium (altium.com) actively engages with its community and professional audience through a robust schedule of events, including webinars, live workshops, and past conferences. These events are designed to provide valuable insights, training, and collaboration opportunities for engineers and stakeholders in electronics development.

Altium regularly hosts webinars focusing on various aspects of its platform, such as "Your Design Data Has Zero Defense," which explores building speed, structure, and security in electronics development [resources.altium.com/webinars/your-design-data-has-zero-defense]. Other webinar topics include optimizing design library migration, enhancing team collaboration for industrial PCB projects, and accelerating electronics development with intelligent market insights and seamless collaboration [resources.altium.com/webinars/eliminate-your-design-friction-agile-teams][resources.altium.com/webinars/streamlining-team-collaboration-industrial-pcb-projects][resources.altium.com/webinars/accelerate-your-electronics-development-intelligent-market-insights-and-seamless].

Beyond scheduled webinars, Altium also offers practical, interactive sessions such as the "Altium Designer Onboarding Workshop," which guides new users through the PCB design process from schematic to manufacturing files [resources.altium.com/webinars/altium-designer-boarding-workshop]. The company also hosts weekly "Ask an Expert" sessions, allowing participants to directly engage with Altium 365 experts and receive personalized assistance [resources.altium.com/workshops]. These live workshops and training sessions underscore Altium's commitment to user education and support, ensuring engineers can maximize the potential of their design tools.

Altium extends its educational efforts through specialized webinars and workshops catering to different user needs, from exploring Altium Customization with scripting or low-code solutions to understanding how Altium Agile Teams transforms design tools into comprehensive product development platforms [resources.altium.com/webinars/altium-customization-scripting-or-low-code][resources.altium.com/webinars/agile-teams-design-tool-product-development-platform]. The company also provides access to an extensive library of on-demand content, including videos from past Altium Live conferences featuring expert training sessions on topics like

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Altium's primary strategy for talent acquisition and retention?

Altium focuses on continuous growth and industry advancement by seeking talent to modernize electronics creation for the software-defined world. They emphasize investing in future talent through internships via Renesas and cultivating a skilled workforce both internally and externally via the Altium Education platform, while maintaining a stable employment environment with no publicly available information on layoffs.

What do Altium's recent financial results indicate about their growth trajectory?

Altium is demonstrating robust financial performance and is on a consistent growth trajectory, striving towards an ambitious US$500 million revenue target by FY26. For FY23, revenue increased by 19.2% to US$263.3 million, and in the first half of FY24, revenues grew by 16% to US$138.6 million, with healthy EBITDA margins and profit after tax.

What does Don Cantow's appointment as General Manager signal about Altium's strategic direction?

Don Cantow's appointment as General Manager, effective January 1, 2026, signals Altium's strategic push to accelerate its adoption as an industry platform. This type of leadership change often accompanies a period of growth and strategic expansion, aiming to drive the company's influence and market penetration.

How is Altium leveraging partnerships to enhance its platform's capabilities?

Altium is leveraging partnerships to build a robust ecosystem that enhances its unified electronics development platform. Key collaborations, such as with Renesas for system development and standardization, and integrations with Z2Data and SiliconExpert for supply chain intelligence, demonstrate a focus on comprehensive solutions from silicon selection to manufacturing and supply resilience.

What do Altium's event offerings suggest about their engagement strategy with users?

Altium's event offerings, including webinars, live workshops, and 'Ask an Expert' sessions, suggest a strong commitment to user education, support, and community engagement. These events aim to provide valuable insights, training, and direct collaboration opportunities, helping engineers maximize the potential of Altium's design tools and platform.

How does Altium differentiate its Altium Designer and Altium 365 offerings from competitors like Cadence Allegro and Siemens Xpedition?

Altium differentiates Altium Designer and Altium 365 by emphasizing a unified platform experience that seamlessly connects design, collaboration, and manufacturing, aiming for a more integrated and user-friendly approach. While competitors like Cadence Allegro and Siemens Xpedition offer high-end, full-featured solutions for complex enterprise clients, Altium focuses on streamlining multidisciplinary collaboration and providing a digital thread at scale.

What is Altium's pricing strategy for its core Altium Designer and Altium 365 offerings?

Altium's pricing strategy for its core offerings is centered around the 'Altium Develop' package, bundling Altium Designer with Altium 365 cloud capabilities at an annual subscription. It costs $1990 USD per year for the first author and $995 USD for additional licenses, reflecting a recent adjustment to offer more capabilities at a lower price point and maintain 100% backward compatibility.

What is the significance of the Renesas partnership to Altium's market position?

The Renesas partnership is highly significant for Altium's market position, as it led to Renesas standardizing its PCB design and development processes exclusively on Altium's tools and cloud platform. This collaboration, including the Renesas 365 solution, positions Altium as a key enabler for streamlined electronics system development from silicon selection to system lifecycle management, enhancing its industry platform status.

What does Altium's emphasis on 'software-defined world' mean for its product development roadmap?

Altium's emphasis on a 'software-defined world' means its product development roadmap is focused on redefining electronic product creation by connecting every stakeholder, discipline, and phase of development. This involves creating a unified platform that streamlines design, collaboration, and manufacturing, ensuring all tools support the creation of advanced connected devices.

How does Altium address the need for supply chain resilience in electronics design?

Altium addresses the need for supply chain resilience by integrating key technology providers into its Altium 365 platform. Collaborations with Z2Data and SiliconExpert provide direct access to extensive supply chain and component databases, while partnerships with Cofactr and Nexar offer enhanced visibility and supply resilience throughout the electronic product design and manufacturing lifecycle, enabling proactive risk management.

What is the strategic rationale behind Altium's Altimade partnership with MacroFab?

The strategic rationale behind Altium's Altimade partnership with MacroFab is to integrate PCB design directly with manufacturing, representing a significant step towards the digital transformation of the electronics industry. This 'Design WITH Manufacturing' application leverages Altium's cloud platform with MacroFab’s digital manufacturing platform to streamline the entire process from design intent to physical production.

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