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Intel is allegedly considering acquiring Altera in what could be the company’s biggest ever deal.
It is unclear how much Intel would expect to pay for the maker of chips for networks and cars, however according to the Wall Street Journal Altera has a market capitalisation of around $10.4 billion, and has suggested a valuation of $13.4 billion.
If Intel – who had a market value of £151.6 billion – is to go ahead with the rumoured deal, then it could be one of its biggest purchases in the company’s history.
Analyst Patrick Moorhead, told Venture Beat: ““Two things have happened in the industry that make this deal make sense. First, we are moving into a world of heterogeneous computing where we need more specificity in the way we do processing. We aren’t moving as quickly as we once were in homogeneous processing.
“FPGAs, like graphics processing units (GPUs) and digital signal processors (DSPs) are more specific kinds of more application specific processors, but FPGAs have been historically way too large and extremely difficult to program.”
The Wall Street Journal also reckons that the purchase will solidify the two chipmakers’ manufacturing partnership and keep Intel’s factories full.
These rumours come as KitGuru reports that Nvidia could be considering outsourcing production of its GPUs to Intel Corp, and Extreme Tech reveal rumours that suggest Samsung may be thinking about buying chip firm AMD.
