The Chief Executive of Intel Corp.’s programmable chip business Altera has denied reports that the chipmaker is looking to offload the company.
In an interview with CRN, Sandra Rivera (pictured) said Intel is sticking with its original plan of selling a smaller stake in the company, before spinning it off via an initial public offering in 2026 at the latest.
Rivera was responding to a report last week by Reuters that Intel was planning some dramatic changes to its business model, which would include selling off Altera, which is no longer deemed to be a core part of its strategy.
She told CRN that the report is “not true” and was “not sourced from anyone that actually knows what’s happening”. Instead, Intel is committed to its original plan for Altera, and it remains on track to do an IPO in 2026, she insisted.
Altera, acquired by Intel for $16.7 billion in 2015, makes field-programmable gate arrays, which are semiconductors that can be reprogrammed on the fly to make them more efficient at specific computing tasks. That’s unlike standard central processing units, which cannot be reprogrammed at all, and application-specific integrated circuits, which can only be programmed once.
Intel originally wanted to make Altera a core part of its business, and following the acquisition it transformed the company into its Programmable Solutions business unit. However, around a year ago, Intel revealed a plan to spin-off Altera as a standalone company, and promptly named Rivera, who previously led its Data Center and AI unit, as Altera’s CEO.
The chipmaker said at the time it was planning to sell a stake in Altera to private investors within the next couple of years, while maintaining a majority interest.
Intel announced the plan in order to gain more capital to fund CEO Pat Gelsinger’s ambitions to revive the company, which calls for billions of dollars of investments. With the spin-off, Intel revived the old Altera brand and waved goodbye to its programmable solutions group. Intel added that the new arrangement would leave Altera better placed to target new opportunities in an FPGA market that could grow to more than $55 billion.
Intel, which was formerly widely regarded as the biggest chipmaker in the world, has seen its fortunes dwindle in recent years after falling behind rivals such as Nvidia Corp. in the artificial intelligence industry. It has also faced increasing competition from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. in its traditional markets – chips for personal computers and data center servers.
In an effort to turn around its fortunes, Intel last month announced plans to cut its operating costs by $10 billion next year. The move came in response to a disappointing earnings report that sent the chipmaker’s stock plummeting more than 20%. As part of the initiative, Intel plans to lay off about 15% of its workforce.
News of the layoffs was followed by reports that Intel may be looking to sell off other assets deemed to be non-core to its business, including the Intel Foundry business that manufacturers chips, and a part of its stake in Mobileye, a former subsidiary that makes chips for the automotive industry.
Rivera told CRN that Altera is still working towards its eventual IPO in 2026, which she described as an “important and fun” milestone in the company’s new journey.
She added that after becoming independent, Altera will be the sole remaining “at-scale company left in the world” in the FPGA business. In 2022, Altera’s main rival Xilinx Inc. was acquired by Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and other competitors only focus on specific niches within the FPGA market.