For Release: March 16, 1999
Logic Designers Embrace Altera FLEX 6000 Devices in High Volume Applications
- Cumulative Revenue Exceeds $20 Million, More Than Two Million Units Shipped
- Nearly 2,000 Customers Have Utilized FLEX 6000 for Fast Time-to-Market and Flexibility
San Jose, Calif., March 16, 1999 -- Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced that it has shipped over two million FLEX® 6000 devices since the introduction of the popular programmable logic device (PLD) family. FLEX 6000 PLDs offer quick time-to-market and flexibility at a price that is competitive with gate array solutions. Both PLD and ASIC designers have embraced the devices for high-volume designs, resulting in cumulative revenue that has exceeded $20 million.
The small die size and low cost structure of the FLEX 6000 allow the family to be priced aggressively for high-volume applications. A number of design wins have included volumes of approximately 100,000 units and more, higher than is traditional for programmable logic. Such applications include cable set top boxes, NT server motherboards and networking hubs. The latter application was for a large computer manufacturer. The hub designers used FLEX 6000 for its time-to-market benefits and low cost structure. In another 100,000-unit order, a large Japanese customer with its own ASIC capability in-house instead chose to use FLEX 6000 PLDs, because of potential product delays due to ASIC 'respins.' The FLEX 6000 pricing was competitive with ASIC unit cost, and offered lower risk.
"One of the reasons FLEX 6000 can be priced so low is that many designs under 25,000 gates require no memory," observed Erik Cleage, Altera senior vice president of marketing. "Consequently, FLEX 6000 does not carry the cost burden associated with memory as do competitive programmable devices targeting the same sockets."
Nearly 2,000 customers to date have purchased devices, recognizing and endorsing the advantages of the Altera FLEX 6000 family.
About Altera
Altera Corporation, The Programmable Solutions Company™, was founded in 1983 and is a worldwide leader in high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices and associated computer aided engineering (CAE) logic development tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that offer on-site programmability to customers. The chips are programmed using tools that run on personal computers or engineering work stations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk, and fast time-to-market. The company offers the broadest line of CMOS programmable logic devices that address high-speed, high-density, and low-power applications. Altera products serve a broad range of markets, including telecommunications, data communications, computer peripherals, and industrial applications. Altera common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol ALTR.
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