Analysts sees 'PLD inflection point'

Dylan McGrath
10/18/2010 7:56 PM EDT

SAN FRANCISCO—Programmable logic vendors such as Altera Corp. and Xilinx Inc. should be more resilient in the face of cyclical downturns and inventory corrections with the semiconductor industry entering a "PLD inflection point" with programmable logic appearing to gain favor versus traditional custom ASIC solutions, according to a Wall Street analyst.