Semiconductor chip giant Altera Corporation (ALTR) recently announced the addition of five 28 nm Cyclone V FPGA development kits to its portfolio. The new low-cost kits facilitate system design by allowing designers to cost-effectively integrate Cyclone V FPGAs.
The five Cyclone V FPGAs (Field-programmable gate array) include Arrow BeMicro, TerASIC Cyclone, Altima Cyclone, EBV Elektronik GmbH and Mercury Code Cyclone V GX development kits that provide a quick and simple way to develop low-cost and low-power, system-level designs.
The new kits will enable customers to quickly develop low-power video systems, which in turn will help Altera to increase its customer base, going forward. The deployment will also help Altera to strengthen its product portfolio and offer more comprehensive and high-value programmable solutions.
Altera reported total revenue of $421.8 million in the second quarter of 2013, down 9.3% year over year. The weakness was across products applications and geographies with a few exceptions.
Growth in 4G/LTE deployments in particular will increase demand for FPGAs, which will be beneficial for Altera. Additionally, Altera’s transition to 14nm FPGAs in association with Intel Corp. (INTC) is likely to be a competitive differentiator.
Though Altera’s association with Intel will keep it ahead of its peers, synergies from the partnership are not likely to boost fundamentals in the near term. But Altera’s solid book-to-bill ratio and backlog position are encouraging.
However, macroeconomic weakness, competition from Xilinx Inc. (XLNX) and Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (LSCC), consolidation in the telecom market, declining margins and volatility in the semiconductor market are concerns.
Currently, Altera holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment