Industry Expert Blogs

A couple of months ago there was a big announcement regarding the Intel 14nm node with TriGate technology and that Altera would be making use of this for their future FPGAs.

At first blush this would appear to be really big news. Xilinx and Altera have been locked in a duopoly almost since the dawn of time (in FPGA terms). Neither of them has managed to get very far ahead of the other, and while they may have each had some specific technical differences, they all basically come out in the wash. So is this news a real game-changer for the industry? Will Altera now surge ahead as some reports have suggested?

Very few details are really available about this deal, from what I can find. First, let's consider price. If Intel believes that their technology is so far ahead of that offered by TSMC, then I am sure they will command a premium for it. That means it is likely that Altera devices will be more expensive. But Altera should be able to squeeze more on a die and these devices should have lower power.

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