[News] TSMC May Benefit from Intel’s Potential Altera Sale Due to Close Ties with Buyers

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Reuters previously reported that Intel is considering selling its stake in Altera, a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) manufacturer, as part of its business restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, as AMD and Marvell are said to be potential buyers.

As per a report from Economic Daily News citing sources, it’s believed that if the sale goes through, a significant portion of Altera’s orders could be redirected to TSMC, which would be highly beneficial for the Taiwanese foundry giant.

The same report indicated that Altera used to be a major customer of TSMC. However, after Intel acquired Altera in 2015, the orders were redirected to Intel. TSMC’s rapid growth, bolstered by orders from clients like Apple, AMD, and NVIDIA, helped mitigate the impact of losing Altera’s business though.

If Altera is no longer part of Intel, as it might be is acquired by companies like AMD or Marvell, which are currently key clients of TSMC, it is likely that Altera’s orders may return to TSMC in significant volumes.

Intel acquired Altera for USD 16.7 billion in 2015, and has previously indicated plans to sell a portion of its stake through an initial public offering (IPO), though no specific date has been set.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Reuter’s report suggested that Intel’s plan does not currently include splitting up the company or selling its foundry business to buyers like TSMC, Reuters notes.

Intel had already begun segregating its wafer foundry business into an independent division and financials, starting from the first quarter of this year.

Per Reuters, the company has established a wall between its foundry and IC design business to ensure that the design division’s potential customers cannot access the confidential technologies of Intel’s foundry clients.

Read more

• [News] AMD Could Emerge as a Prospective Buyer for Intel’s Potential Sale of Altera
• [News] Intel Reportedly Mulls to Sell FPGA Unit Altera and Freeze USD 32 Billion German Project amid Crisis

(Photo credit: Intel)