Synopsys

Synopsys holds a strong, entrenched position in the EDA/IP industry. Customers rely on its complex, mission-critical design tools and IP libraries, creating very high switching costs once integrated into chip design workflows.

As one analysis notes, Synopsys (and Cadence) are some of the most "durable, attractive businesses in software and technology". The merger with Ansys further broadens its foothold, combining chip-design and physics-simulation toolchains under one roof. This widens the TAM and creates additional cross-sell and integration advantages.

Its brand and technology leadership, plus years of accumulated patents and software improvements, reinforce the moat. The industry is effectively a stable duopoly (Synopsys vs. Cadence) and neither network effects nor open-source alternatives threaten it.

The moat isn’t unlimited (comparison-shopping still happens), but the combination of proprietary algorithms, extensive customer relationships, and broad product suite makes it very durable for the next decade.