What Altera does

Altera is an independent semiconductor company that designs and sells programmable logic devices — primarily Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGAs — together with associated design software, intellectual property cores, and development kits. The company was founded in 1983, acquired by Intel in 2015 for approximately $16.7 billion, and returned to independent operation in September 2025 when Silver Lake Partners and Abu Dhabi's MGX sovereign AI fund acquired a 51% stake at an $8.75 billion valuation. Altera claims the position of the world's largest pure-play FPGA solutions provider, serving customers in aerospace and defense, wireless communications (5G/6G and Open RAN), data center AI acceleration, industrial automation, broadcast, medical, transportation, test and measurement, and consumer electronics.

The company's technology stack spans the Agilex family — Agilex 9 with Direct RF sampling up to 64 Gsps and 10nm SuperFin process, Agilex 7 with ~2X better fabric performance per watt versus competing 7nm FPGAs, Agilex 5 with integrated AI tensor blocks delivering up to 152.6 TOPS INT8, and Agilex 3 for cost-optimized applications — alongside legacy Stratix, Arria, MAX, and Cyclone series. Supporting the silicon, Altera offers Quartus Prime design software, the FPGA AI Suite with a spatial compiler architecture, Open FPGA Stack (OFS), Questa simulation, Nios V soft processors, and an extensive IP catalog spanning PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, memory controllers, and DSP/AI functions. Extended lifecycle support through 2045 anchors long-deployment defense, industrial, and infrastructure customers.

Altera's business model combines hardware sales (FPGA chips, SoC FPGAs, CPLDs, and development kits), software subscriptions (Quartus Prime Pro/Standard/Lite, FPGA AI Suite Unlimited, Questa editions), and intellectual property licensing, distributed globally through DigiKey, Mouser, Arrow Electronics, Macnica, Braemac, and Eastronics, supplemented by direct enterprise sales. Major recent partnerships span Arm (data center AI), Cadence (AI-driven chip design), Broadcom/NEC/MTI/WiSig (5G Open RAN), Mercury Systems/VadaTech/DIU (defense Direct RF and FSO), and Arteris (IP licensing). The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, and operates as a privately held entity post-2025 separation from Intel.

Name

Altera

Legal name

Altera Corporation

Website

https://altera.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

Altera is the world's largest pure-play FPGA solutions provider, selling programmable logic devices, SoC FPGAs, design software, and IP cores to customers in defense, wireless, data center, and industrial markets. Re-established as an independent private company in 2025 after Silver Lake and MGX acquired a 51% stake at an $8.75 billion valuation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Programmable Logic Devices (FPGAs and SoC FPGAs)

NAICS

Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413)

SIC

Electronic & Other Electrical Equipment (No Computer Equip) (3600), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)

akta.pro primary industry

Programmable Logic (FPGAs/CPLDs) (HDAHAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Compute & Acceleration ICs (CPU/GPU/AI/FPGA/ASIC) (HDAHABAC), Advanced SoCs & Application Processors (HDAHAAAB), Embedded Software & Firmware Tools (Compilers, Debug, RTOS tooling) (HDAHAFAE)

Keywords

• FPGA semiconductors
• Programmable logic devices
• SoC FPGA solutions
• FPGA design software
• Embedded development tools

Headquarters

HQ city

San Jose

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. FPGA and SoC Hardware Products: Sale of FPGA chips, SoC FPGAs, and CPLDs across multiple product families including Agilex, Stratix, Arria, MAX, and Cyclone series. Hardware products range from high-performance to power/cost-optimized segments.
2. Software Development Tools: Licensing of Quartus Prime Design Software (Pro, Standard, Lite editions), FPGA AI Suite, and other development tools. Revenue from software licenses with various pricing tiers and subscription options.
3. Intellectual Property (IP) Cores: Licensing of pre-designed IP blocks including interfaces (PCIe, Ethernet, CXL), memory controllers, DSP/AI functions, and embedded processors for integration into customer FPGA designs.
4. Development Kits: Sale of development boards and kits for various FPGA families enabling customer prototyping and development.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Altera designs and manufactures Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGAs, and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) sold across the Agilex, Stratix, Arria, MAX, and Cyclone product families. The company also licenses development software (Quartus Prime, FPGA AI Suite), pre-designed IP cores, and sells development kits for prototyping across aerospace/defense, wireless communications, data center, industrial, and embedded markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Agilex 9 FPGA and SoC FPGA (Direct RF-Series) High-performance SoC FPGA family integrating FPGAs with high-performance wideband data converters for Direct RF sampling applications in radar, electronic warfare, and 5G/6G radio systems.
• Agilex 7 FPGA and SoC FPGA High-performance FPGA and SoC FPGA family for compute-intensive, high-bandwidth applications in data center, wireless, and defense markets.
• Agilex 5 FPGA and SoC FPGA Mid-range FPGA and SoC FPGA family with integrated AI tensor blocks for compute-dense edge AI and intelligent system designs.
• Agilex 3 FPGA and SoC FPGA Power- and cost-optimized FPGA and SoC FPGA family targeting edge applications with embedded AI requirements.
• Stratix 10 FPGA and SoC FPGA High-performance FPGA and SoC FPGA family in Altera's high-performance tier for compute-intensive workloads.
• Arria FPGA Family (Arria 10, Arria V) Mid-range FPGA family offering balanced performance, power, and cost for mid-tier embedded and communications applications.
• MAX CPLD Family (MAX 10, MAX V) Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLDs) targeting glue logic, I/O expansion, and low-density programmable applications.
• Cyclone FPGA Family (Cyclone 10, Cyclone V, Cyclone IV) Low-cost, low-power FPGA families for high-volume, cost-sensitive applications including industrial, automotive, and consumer.
• Quartus Prime Design Software Integrated design environment for FPGA development including synthesis, optimization, verification, and simulation, available in Pro, Standard, and Lite editions.
• FPGA AI Suite Complete AI inference development platform that maps trained AI models onto FPGA hardware using streaming dataflow architecture, delivering ASIC-like inference performance with deterministic low-latency operation.
• Open FPGA Stack (OFS) Scalable, open source hardware and software infrastructure providing modular source code for customizing FPGA-based acceleration platforms.
• Nios V Soft Embedded Processor Configurable soft processor IP core that can be implemented in Altera FPGAs for custom embedded processing.
• Altera IP Cores (PCIe, CXL, Ethernet, Memory Controllers, DSP/AI) Pre-designed intellectual property blocks licensed for integration into customer FPGA designs, including interface, memory controller, DSP, AI, and embedded processor IP.
• Altera FPGA Development Kits Development boards and kits available for every Altera FPGA family, enabling customer prototyping and hardware bring-up.
• Holoscan Sensor Bridge Sensor interface solution for high-bandwidth data acquisition into NVIDIA Holoscan sensor processing platforms, demonstrated with Agilex FPGA technology.

Quantifiable outcome

• 28x latency reduction with 80% fewer resources using spatial compiler architecture for real-time Physical AI
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Mercury SystemscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Collaboration to expand Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGA ecosystem with new COTS-based solutions for defense platforms. Leverages SOSA-aligned OpenVPX platforms and integrates medium-band direct RF capabilities for software-defined RF systems in mission-critical applications including adaptive radar, electronic warfare, and secure communications. Mercury DRF5660 boards now available.
• VadaTechcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026Collaboration to expand Agilex 9 Direct RF FPGA ecosystem with new COTS-based solutions for defense platforms. Leverages SOSA-aligned OpenVPX platforms for defense applications. VadaTech VPX540 boards now available for order.
• Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2026Collaboration to develop a reconfigurable coherent Free Space Optics (FSO) modem prototype for the RAZORBAC program. Prototype leverages Agilex FPGA-based technologies for resilient, high-bandwidth optical networks across space, air, and ground environments. Initiative supports U.S. Space Force goals for secure laser communications.
• ArmcoreTechnology or Integration · 10 April 2026Expanded collaboration to combine Altera's data center-optimized FPGA solutions with the Arm AGI CPU (built on Arm Neoverse CSS V3) for AI data center platforms. Enables system architects to build low-latency, highly flexible, and scalable compute platforms targeting next-generation AI data center architectures. Partnership builds on over two decades of joint work in embedded and industrial markets.
• WiSig NetworksmajorTechnology or Integration · 2 March 2026Strategic partnership enabling WiSig Networks to use Altera Agilex FPGAs for O-RAN compliant 32T32R Massive MIMO Radio Unit with patented ULPI technology. Solution designed for India's telecommunications landscape offering larger cell coverage and lower deployment costs.
• BroadcomcoreTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2026Successful interoperability testing validating high-throughput performance of Agilex 7 FPGAs with Broadcom's BroadPeak SoC platform for wideband radio configurations. Enables 40% power reduction in 5G Advanced and 6G networks.
• NECmajorTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2026Collaboration resulting in radio solutions delivering significant power efficiency gains of over 40% and alignment with India's localization mandates for 5G infrastructure.
• MTImajorTechnology or Integration · 27 February 2026Collaboration resulting in radio solutions delivering significant power efficiency gains and alignment with India's localization mandates for 5G infrastructure.
• Cadence Design SystemscoreTechnology or Integration · 12 February 2026Altera is an early adopter of Cadence's ChipStack AI Super Agent, an agentic AI system for automating chip design and verification workflows. Altera reported approximately 10X reduction in verification efforts using this technology.
• AXISCADESmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 November 2025Expanded strategic partnership for development of mission-critical defense applications. AXISCADES is an India-based engineering and R&D company providing solutions across aerospace, defense, and automotive sectors.
• ArteriscoreTechnology or Integration · 4 November 2025Altera licensed Arteris' product portfolio for developing next-generation FPGA solutions. Includes system IP and software to enhance FPGA design workflows, data movement, and intelligent computing across cloud-to-edge applications.
• BigCat WirelessmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2025Expanded partnership to scale FPGA-based Open RAN and satellite communication solutions. Collaboration aims to accelerate deployment and customization of radio solutions across terrestrial and non-terrestrial markets.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Renesas Electronics: Renesas supplies automotive, industrial, and IoT microcontrollers and SoCs with growing FPGA-adjacent programmable logic capabilities (formerly Dialog, Celeno, Altium/FPGA IP). Overlaps with Altera in industrial automation and transportation but does not specialize in standalone FPGA silicon.
• Nvidia: Nvidia is the dominant AI accelerator vendor and competes with Altera's AI Tensor Blocks and FPGA AI Suite for edge AI and inference workloads via Jetson, IGX, and discrete GPUs. Not a direct FPGA competitor but increasingly shapes customer roadmap choices between GPU and FPGA-based AI acceleration.

Emerging players

• QuickLogic: QuickLogic offers ultra-low-power EOS S3 and PolarPro FPGAs plus AI/voice sensor processing for wearables, IoT, and mobile. Comparable to Altera's lowest-power Cyclone/MAX lines but serves a much narrower set of always-on edge applications.
• Achronix Semiconductor: Achronix offers high-performance Speedster and VectorPath FPGAs plus eFPGA IP, competing primarily in data center acceleration and high-bandwidth networking. Niche overlap with Altera's Agilex 7/9 in AI inference and SmartNIC use cases but smaller scale and narrower product breadth.
• Efinix: Efinix provides Trion and Titanium FPGAs using its Quantum FPGA architecture targeting edge AI, IoT, and consumer markets. Competes with Altera's Cyclone/MAX families on power efficiency and unit cost but lacks the high-end transceiver and DSP capabilities of Agilex.

Direct peers

• Microchip Technology: Microchip acquired Microsemi and offers PolarFire, IGLOO, and SmartFusion FPGAs with an emphasis on defense, aerospace, and low-power applications. Direct overlap with Altera's aerospace/defense and industrial segments, including radiation-tolerant and security-focused variants.
• Lattice Semiconductor: Lattice is a pure-play FPGA competitor focused on low-power, small-form-factor FPGAs (Certus, Nexus, Avant platforms) targeting industrial, automotive, and edge AI. Competes most directly with Altera's MAX, Cyclone, and Agilex 3 power/cost-optimized families for embedded and edge applications.
• AMD (Xilinx): AMD's Xilinx division is Altera's largest direct FPGA competitor, offering Versal, Kintex, Virtex, and Artix/Spartan families across high-performance, mid-range, and cost-optimized segments. Competes head-to-head with Altera in data center, wireless, aerospace/defense, and industrial markets with overlapping customer base and design tools.

Others

• Arm Holdings: Arm is a core technology and IP partner for Altera's SoC FPGAs (integrated Cortex-A and Neoverse cores) and a strategic ally in AI data center platforms. Not a competitor but a foundational supplier whose roadmap directly enables Altera's AI and embedded value proposition.
• Marvell Technology: Marvell provides custom silicon, networking SoCs, and data infrastructure chips that compete with Altera Agilex-based SmartNIC and DPU designs in hyperscale data centers. Adjacent rather than direct overlap, but both serve the same end customers accelerating AI workloads.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AlteraFPGA_
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AlteraFPGA_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/altera-fpga
• Facebookfacebook.com/IntelAlteraFPGA

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A7 records

Investments5 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Altera