8-K

                          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                               Washington, D.C.  20549

                                       FORM 8-K

                                    CURRENT REPORT

        Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934


Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported):   April 3, 1998
                                                    ----------------------------

                            QUICKTURN DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
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                (Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

    Delaware                       0-22738                    77-0159619
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(State or other                  (Commission                (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of                  File Number)           Identification Number)
incorporation)

               55 W. TRIMBLE ROAD, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA              95131-1013
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                       (Address of principal executive offices)      (Zip Code)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code:  (408) 914-6000
                                                     ---------------------------

                                         N/A
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            (Former name or former address, if changed since last report)




ITEM 5.   OTHER EVENTS

     On April 3, 1998, the Registrant announced preliminary financial results
for the first quarter of 1998.

ITEM 7.   FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS

     (c)  EXHIBITS

          99.1    Press Release dated April 3, 1998.


                                      -2-


                                      SIGNATURES


     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.


Dated:    April 3, 1998       QUICKTURN DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.


                                /s/ RAYMOND K. OSTBY
                              -------------------------------
                              Raymond K. Ostby
                              Vice President, Finance and Administration,
                                Chief Financial Officer and Secretary


                                      -3-


                                  INDEX TO EXHIBITS


   Exhibit
   Number           Description of Document
   ------           -----------------------

   99.1             Press Release dated April 3, 1998.

EX-99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

Raymond K. Ostby
Vice President Finance & Administration, CFO
Quickturn Design Systems, Inc.
(408) 914-6633


              QUICKTURN ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY FIRST QUARTER 1998 RESULTS


SAN JOSE, CALIF. - April 3, 1998 - Quickturn Design Systems, Inc., (Nasdaq:
QKTN) today announced that revenue for the first quarter ended March 31, 1998,
will be approximately $23.5 million, compared to 1997 first quarter results of
$21.4 million. The company expects to incur a loss for the quarter of between
$0.09 and $0.11 per share, compared to a loss per share of $0.13 in the first
quarter of 1997, which included approximately $0.05 of loss net of tax
associated with the merger of Quickturn and SpeedSim-TM-, Inc.

     Keith R. Lobo, Quickturn President and CEO said, "Revenue from the 
Asia-Pacific region came in significantly below our expectations for the 
first quarter. We have also seen weakness in certain segments of the U.S. 
market, particularly those that are heavily dependent on sales to the 
Asia-Pacific region. Europe has slightly exceeded our expectations, although 
not sufficiently to compensate for the shortfall elsewhere."

     Lobo added, "Although we have seen certain customers slow down their 
purchasing decisions during the first quarter, we also continue to see 
increases in the density and complexity of new design projects that are 
candidates for

                                   -more-


Quickturn's verification products. We are closely assessing our customers new
design activity to better understand when the current slowdown is likely to
reverse itself."

     "Given this result, our current assessment for 1998 is for revenue to 
increase 15-20% over 1997 revenue of $110.4 million," continued Lobo. "We have 
tightened expense controls in light of this quarter's performance. However, 
there are no plans for workforce reductions."

     "During the first quarter, we met all of our internal development
milestones on several key projects for advanced technologies and future
products. We will continue to invest in those projects as we believe they are
critical to addressing emerging industry needs. In addition, we have been
increasing our direct presence in several key regions, most recently Israel,
where we are opening our first office to serve this important market."

     This press release contains forward-looking statements, including
statements regarding expected results for the first quarter and future periods
as well as statements regarding the company's markets. Actual results could
differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements as a
result of factors including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the company
is uncertain whether the recent weakness experienced in the Asia-Pacific and
domestic markets will continue in the foreseeable future; (ii) many of the
company's customers order on an as-needed basis and often delay delivery of firm
purchase orders; (iii) the decision of customers to purchase the company's
products involves a lengthy sales cycle which could result, among other things,


                                   -more-


in fluctuations of operating results and inventory obsolescence if expected 
orders are delayed or not received; (iv) the company expects increased 
competition, which could result in lost sales or price erosion; (v) the 
company's patents and other proprietary rights may not ensure adequate 
protection against competition; (vi) the company serves the electronics and 
semiconductor industries, which are noted for rapidly changing needs, and 
there can be no assurance that Quickturn's product enhancements or new 
product introductions will keep pace with or meet those rapidly changing 
needs or that new products offered by others will not be superior to those 
offered by Quickturn; and (vii) there can be no assurance that Quickturn can 
retain the services of key employees and key suppliers upon which the company 
is dependent to provide product advances, timely production and high levels 
of product quality and reliability.

     Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. is the industry pioneer in cycle-based
simulation, reprogrammable logic emulation products and services for design
verification of complex ICs and electronic systems. The company's high
performance cycle-based simulation software is used to verify digital logic
designs as they are being created. The company's emulation products create a
"virtual silicon"-TM- representation of an electronic design to permit
concurrent verification of ASICs and full-custom ICs with system hardware and
software.      

     Quickturn's customers, which include the leading electronics companies in
the high-performance computing, multimedia, graphics and 


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communications markets, are able to use these verification solutions to 
improve design quality, lower overall development costs and shorten 
time-to-market of their new products. Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. is 
headquartered at 55 W. Trimble Road, San Jose, CA 95131-1013; Telephone: 
408-914-6000. For more information, visit the Quickturn website at 
http://www.quickturn.com or send e-mail to info@quickturn.com.
                                          
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Quickturn, the Quickturn logo, SpeedSim and virtual silicon are trademarks of
Quickturn Design Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their
respective owners.