The worldwide EDA revenue rose 10% and reached $1.215 billion in the first quarter. Western Europe accounts for 18 % of the total EDA market value and this region showed its best growth since the big jump in 2004 when the growth was 33 %. "It was a good quarter," Walden Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics Corp. and vice-chair of the EDA Consortium told EETimes. "If the semiconductor industry continues to expand, EDA is positioned to continue this strong growth", he added.