by EETimes
Despite economic difficulties across the chip industry, FPGA makers didn’t have it so bad in 2008. Altera Corp. announced increases in sales and net income for Q3 2008 over Q3 2007. John Daane, president, CEO and chairman of Altera, asserts that market slowdowns can be growth opportunities.
How did Altera achieve growth in Q3 08 despite general market slowdown?
John Daane: Altera remains committed to its fundamental themes of growth, efficiency and shareholder value, and we are pleased to have achieved all three goals for a second consecutive quarter. Our 65-nm devices — Cyclone III FPGAs and Stratix III FPGAs — had another strong growth quarter, with sales once again more than doubling sequentially.
Market slowdowns present an opportunity to accelerate the replacement of ASICs and ASSPs over the long term. System companies tighten budgets and cancel ASIC designs, and semiconductor companies rationalize their product portfolios and eliminate ASSP projects. Nevertheless, system differentiation is still required, and in the absence of ASICs and ASSPs, PLDs become the product of choice. It is here that our efforts to design innovative new software and silicon products pay off for our long-term growth prospects.
