Altera

What Altera does

Altera is an FPGA semiconductor company headquartered in San Jose, California, that was spun out of Intel in 2023 after eight years as Intel's Programmable Solutions Group. The company designs and sells field-programmable gate arrays across a tiered portfolio: high-performance Agilex 9, Agilex 7, and Stratix 10 devices; mid-range Agilex 5 and Arria 10 parts; and cost- and power-optimized Agilex 3, MAX 10, MAX V, and Cyclone families. Underlying technologies include the Hyperflex core fabric, integrated Direct RF analog conversion, and AI tensor blocks embedded in Agilex 5 and 3, all of which target compute, signal processing, and AI inference acceleration.

Name

Altera

Legal name

Altera Corporation

Website

https://altera.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

FPGA and Programmable Logic Semiconductors

NAICS

Semiconductor and Related Device Manufacturing (334413)

SIC

Semiconductors & Related Devices (3674)

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)

Keywords

• FPGA semiconductors
• System-on-Chip devices
• Programmable logic
• Embedded development tools
• AI inference hardware

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

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, Supply Chain, Personnel

Revenue model

1. FPGA and SoC Hardware Sales: Altera generates primary revenue from selling FPGA devices, SoC FPGAs, and CPLDs across multiple product families (Agilex, Stratix, Arria, MAX, Cyclone) targeting applications in data center, industrial, aerospace/defense, wireless, and consumer electronics.
2. Quartus Prime Design Software Licenses: Quartus Prime software is available in Pro (paid with advanced features), Standard (paid), and Lite (free) editions. Revenue generated through software license subscriptions and perpetual licenses.
3. FPGA AI Suite Licenses: FPGA AI Suite is available in limited free version and paid unlimited version for AI inference development on Altera FPGAs. Sold through distributors like DigiKey and Mouser.
4. Intellectual Property (IP) Licensing: Altera offers a comprehensive portfolio of IP cores including interfaces (PCI Express, Ethernet, CXL), memory controllers, DSP/AI functions, and soft processors (Nios V RISC-V) that customers license for use in their FPGA designs.
5. Development Tools and Hardware: Revenue from development kits, simulation tools (Questa), debugging tools, and add-on development tools including DSP Builder, oneAPI support, and P4 Suite for FPGAs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Altera designs, manufactures, and sells FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), SoC FPGA, and CPLD semiconductor devices across product families including Agilex 3/5/7/9, Stratix 10, Arria 10/V, MAX 10/V, and Cyclone IV/V/10. The company complements its silicon portfolio with the Quartus Prime Design Software suite, FPGA AI Suite, Questa simulation, Open FPGA Stack (OFS), DSP Builder, and a broad portfolio of licensable IP cores (PCI Express, Ethernet, CXL, memory controllers, Nios V soft processors) sold to enterprise customers across data center, communications, industrial, aerospace/defense, medical, transportation, broadcast/Pro AV, and test & measurement markets.

Product overview

Altera is a leading FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and SoC (System-on-Chip) technology company offering a comprehensive portfolio organized by performance tier. The high-performance segment includes Agilex 9 (Direct RF-Series with integrated data converters up to 64 Gsps), Agilex 7 (with F/I/M-Series variants, up to 4M LEs, 116Gbps transceivers), and Stratix 10 (with GX/SX/TX/DX/AX variants featuring Hyperflex architecture). Mid-range offerings comprise Agilex 5 (first with AI tensor blocks, up to 152.6 TOPS), Arria 10 (40% lower power), and Arria V (lowest power-per-bandwidth). Power and cost-optimized products include Agilex 3 (with PQC security), MAX 10 (non-volatile, instant-on), MAX V CPLD, and Cyclone family (V, IV, 10) spanning from cost-sensitive to higher-bandwidth applications. The development ecosystem centers on Quartus Prime Design Software (Pro/Standard/Lite editions), augmented by AI acceleration tools (FPGA AI Suite with spatial architecture, oneAPI add-on), simulation tools (Questa, Simics), DSP development (DSP Builder), and specialized tools (Power/Thermal Analyzer, Advanced Link Analyzer, Transceiver Toolkit, Visual Designer Studio). Open FPGA Stack provides open-source infrastructure for platform customization. The portfolio serves industries including data center, communications, industrial, medical, automotive, aerospace/defense, and broadcast/pro AV.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FPGA AI Suite: AI inference development platform for creating AI accelerators on Altera FPGAs and SoCs
• Quartus Prime
• Open FPGA Stack (OFS)
• Nios V
• Visual Designer Studio

Products and services

• Agilex 9 Direct RF-Series SoC FPGA High-performance SoC FPGA with integrated Direct RF sampling data converters (up to 64 Gsps ADC/DAC), 10nm SuperFin process, quad-core ARM processors, and up to 38 TFLOPS DSP performance for RF signal processing applications in radar, electronic warfare, and defense communications.
• Agilex 7 FPGA and SoC FPGA Highest-performance general-purpose FPGAs delivering ~2X better fabric performance per watt than competing 7nm FPGAs, with integrated Arm processors, transceivers up to 116 Gbps, PCIe 5.0, CXL, and 32 GB HBM2e. Available in F-Series, I-Series, and M-Series variants for data center, networking, and high-bandwidth applications.
• Stratix 10 FPGA and SoC FPGA High-performance FPGA family featuring Hyperflex architecture with EMIB and AIB chiplet technology. Available in GX, SX SoC (quad-core ARM Cortex-A53), TX, DX (PCIe 4.0), and AX (Direct RF) variants for high-throughput networking, compute, and signal processing.
• Agilex 5 FPGA and SoC FPGA First FPGA fabric with AI tensor blocks for higher compute density. E-Series optimized for edge AI with dual-core Arm Cortex-A55/A76 and up to 26 TOPS INT8; D-Series for performance workloads with up to 152.6 TOPS INT8 inference.
• Agilex 3 FPGA and SoC FPGA Power and cost-optimized FPGAs bringing high-performance Hyperflex architecture to entry-level applications. Features 12.5 Gbps transceivers, AI-optimized DSPs with tensor blocks, dual-core ARM Cortex-A55, and advanced security with post-quantum cryptography native boot.
• Arria 10 FPGA and SoC FPGA Mid-range FPGAs delivering full speed grade core performance improvement and 20% fMAX advantage over competition with 40% lower power than previous generation. GT variant supports up to 78 full-duplex transceivers at 25.78 Gbps.
• Arria V FPGA and SoC FPGA Lowest total power mid-range FPGAs for remote radio units, 10G/40G line cards, and broadcast equipment. GZ offers lowest power-per-bandwidth with transceivers up to 12.5 Gbps; ST/SX variants include dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 HPS.
• MAX 10 FPGA Non-volatile FPGA integrating flash memory, PLD, RAM, DSP, DDR3 memory interface, ADC, PLLs, and various I/O standards in small packages from 3mm x 3mm. Features instant-on capability with configuration in less than 10ms.
• MAX V CPLD Non-volatile CPLD architecture integrating flash, RAM, and oscillators into a single device for low-power control and bridging applications.
• Cyclone 10 FPGA

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% higher compute density delivered by next-generation Agilex 9 Direct RF-Series SoC FPGA
• +8 more outcomes

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability8 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• DigiKey ElectronicscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDigiKey is a worldwide authorized distributor for Altera FPGA products. Located in Thief River Falls, MN, USA. Serves customers globally for purchase of FPGA devices, development tools, and software licenses.
• Mouser ElectronicscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMouser is a worldwide authorized distributor for Altera products. Located in Mansfield, Texas, USA. Offers FPGA devices, development kits, and software products to customers globally.
• Arrow ElectronicscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorArrow is an authorized distributor for Americas region covering United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Provides local sales support and technical expertise for Altera products in the region.
• MacnicacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMacnica group serves as authorized distributor across Americas (Macnica Americas, Macnica DHW) and Asia Pacific (Macnica Inc Japan, Macnica Cytech, Macnica Galaxy) regions. Located in Solana Beach, CA for Americas operations.
• Arrow Central EuropemajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorArrow Central Europe is the authorized distributor for EMEA region covering Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, United Kingdom, and other European and Middle Eastern countries.
• BraemacminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBraemac is an authorized distributor for Australia and New Zealand. Located in Alexandria, NSW, Australia.
• Uniquest CorporationminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUniquest Corporation is an authorized distributor for South Korea. Located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
• EastronicsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEastronics is an authorized distributor for Israel. Located in Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Hitek SystemsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHitek Systems develops high-performance PCIe acceleration boards with Agilex 7 FPGAs as part of the Open FPGA Stack (OFS) ecosystem.
• SigmaX.aiminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSigmaX.ai deploys real-time data management solutions using FPGA-based boards and fully open-source code as part of the OFS ecosystem.
• SAPminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAP prototypes containerized workload using Open FPGA Stack (OFS) technology from Altera.
• FlysliceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFlyslice offers high-performance FPGA acceleration cards developed using Open FPGA Stack (OFS) for enterprise applications.
• EmbedWayminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEmbedWay accelerates performance of traditional network security applications using OFS-enabled Altera FPGAs.
• Artiza NetworksminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtiza offers PCIe-based SmartNICs addressing vRAN, NFV, and MEC acceleration using Altera FPGAs.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• QuickLogic: FPGA company with low-power, sensor processing, and AI/ML SoCs. Targets edge AI and always-on applications, overlapping with Altera's MAX and Agilex 3 edge offerings.
• Efinix: Emerging FPGA company with focus on low-power, high-density FPGAs using Quantum fabric. Competes with Agilex 3, MAX, and Cyclone in edge and consumer applications.

Broad incumbents

• NVIDIA: Dominant GPU/AI accelerator company. While not directly selling FPGAs, NVIDIA GPUs and DPUs are key alternatives in the AI inference and data center acceleration workloads where Altera FPGAs compete.
• Marvell Technology: Broad semiconductor company with significant presence in data center networking, storage, and custom silicon (ASICs). Competes with Altera FPGAs in SmartNIC/DPU and communications infrastructure where programmable logic alternatives exist.
• Broadcom: Diversified semiconductor incumbent with strong positioning in networking, broadband, and custom ASICs. Competes with Altera FPGAs in data center, communications, and broadband silicon.

Direct peers

• AMD (Xilinx): AMD acquired Xilinx in 2022, forming the dominant competitor in high-performance FPGAs, SoC FPGAs, and Adaptive SoCs. Directly competes across Agilex/Stratix/Arria portfolios in data center, communications, aerospace/defense, and industrial.
• Microchip Technology: Offers FPGAs (PolarFire, IGLOO, ProASIC3) along with MCUs and mixed-signal ICs. Direct competitor in low-power and mid-range FPGA segments, especially industrial and aerospace/defense where Altera's MAX/Cyclone families compete.
• Lattice Semiconductor: Pure-play FPGA company specializing in low-power, small-form-factor FPGAs and programmable logic, competing with Altera's MAX, Cyclone, and Agilex 3 families in industrial, consumer, and edge applications.
• Achronix Semiconductor: Fabless FPGA and eFPGA company targeting high-performance compute, networking, and AI acceleration. Competes directly with Agilex family in data center acceleration and AI workloads.

Regional players

• Renesas Electronics: Japanese semiconductor company with MCU and FPGA (formerly Dialog/IDT) portfolios. Competes with Altera in industrial and automotive markets, particularly in Asia-Pacific regions.

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

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Altera