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I don't really understand this deal. Altera and Intel already have a fab agreement and Intel is desperate to get customers into their mothballed fabs. All thi

by akuma73 11y ago

I don't really understand this deal. Altera and Intel already have a fab agreement and Intel is desperate to get customers into their mothballed fabs. All this talk of technology collaboration could be accomplished with strategic partnerships/licensing that would certainly be less than $16.7B. This looks like a case of a foundry player buying their customer to prevent it from defecting to TSMC in the future. To me this is a sign of weakness.

enos_feedler 11y ago
I think its more core to Intel's product strategy than this. Intel will build more heterogeneous compute elements on a single die (CPU, GPU and now programmable routing fabric). Intel learned the first time to buy not build (Larabee).
skylan_q 11y ago
Altera and Intel already have a fab agreement and Intel is desperate to get customers into their mothballed fabs. If they can't get customers into them, they can get their own products made in them.
typon 11y ago
Altera has been with TSMC since forever, and in their latest chip they had disastrous results. TSMC just can't compete with Intel's process when it comes to making high quality digital chips. This is a VERY VERY good move for Altera, not sure about Intel though.
- nimrody 11y ago
  Not sure if this is entirely accurate. Intel's process tend to be optimized towards high performance chips since this is where the big margins are. I'm not sure they are ready to devote production capacity (and process development resources) towards very lower power products which are also less profitable. That was one of the reasons they failed when trying to enter the cellular market.
  - danellis 11y ago
    > I'm not sure they are ready to devote production capacity (and process development resources) towards very lower power products which are also less profitable. Isn't that what they're already doing? What about things like the Quarks used in the Galileo and the Edison?
silverpikezero 11y ago
Rumor has it that Altera was unhappy with Intel's process and was going to bail. Intel was so dependent on their cooperation that acquisition started to look good.
- anontera 11y ago
  There is a lot of truth to this - Intel's process (and their tools!) is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE

by akuma73 11y ago

enos_feedler 11y ago

I think its more core to Intel's product strategy than this. Intel will build more heterogeneous compute elements on a single die (CPU, GPU and now programmable routing fabric). Intel learned the first time to buy not build (Larabee).

skylan_q 11y ago

Altera and Intel already have a fab agreement and Intel is desperate to get customers into their mothballed fabs. If they can't get customers into them, they can get their own products made in them.

typon 11y ago

Altera has been with TSMC since forever, and in their latest chip they had disastrous results. TSMC just can't compete with Intel's process when it comes to making high quality digital chips. This is a VERY VERY good move for Altera, not sure about Intel though.

nimrody 11y ago
Not sure if this is entirely accurate. Intel's process tend to be optimized towards high performance chips since this is where the big margins are. I'm not sure they are ready to devote production capacity (and process development resources) towards very lower power products which are also less profitable. That was one of the reasons they failed when trying to enter the cellular market.
- danellis 11y ago
  > I'm not sure they are ready to devote production capacity (and process development resources) towards very lower power products which are also less profitable. Isn't that what they're already doing? What about things like the Quarks used in the Galileo and the Edison?

silverpikezero 11y ago

Rumor has it that Altera was unhappy with Intel's process and was going to bail. Intel was so dependent on their cooperation that acquisition started to look good.

anontera 11y ago
There is a lot of truth to this - Intel's process (and their tools!) is a FUCKING NIGHTMARE