Intel in talks to buy Altera

[Fjodor2001]

Its a market in huge growth. The outlook is 1/3rd of all cloud will use it in 2020.

Seems like a very optimistic outlook. What workload and SW on a cloud server could benefit from an FPGA to such an extent?

 

[Arachnotronic]

Seems like a very optimistic outlook. What workload and SW on a cloud server could benefit from an FPGA to such an extent?

http://semiaccurate.com/2014/06/20/intels-fpga-announcement-simply-palpable-desperation/

 

[Fjodor2001]

Sure, there are cases where it can be useful. But will it grab 1/3 of the server market in 2020? The problem is it requires specialized SW, so the companies owning the servers will have to develop custom FPGA SW for their specific application.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Sure, there are cases where it can be useful. But will it grab 1/3 of the server market in 2020? The problem is it requires specialized SW, so the companies owning the servers will have to develop custom FPGA SW for their specific application.

Not what they said.

"Up to 1/3 of Cloud Service Provider Nodes to Use FPGAs by 2020"

Look, Intel basically can't afford to get "disrupted" by FPGAs in the way that it was "disrupted" by ARM mobile chips. Intel sees a possibility that FPGAs will be in 1/3rd of cloud service provider nodes and it's better to spend the ~$14B (after ALTR net cash is backed out) and be at the forefront of any such "revolution" than to be caught flat footed.

This is a good move on Intel's part, IMO.

 

[witeken]

Not what they said.

"Up to 1/3 of Cloud Service Provider Nodes to Use FPGAs by 2020"

Look, Intel basically can't afford to get "disrupted" by FPGAs in the way that it was "disrupted" by ARM mobile chips. Intel sees a possibility that FPGAs will be in 1/3rd of cloud service provider nodes and it's better to spend the ~$14B (after ALTR net cash is backed out) and be at the forefront of any such "revolution" than to be caught flat footed.

This is a good move on Intel's part, IMO.

I guess you can look at it from desperation like SA does, or you can look at it from Intel's POV that it would be a good addition for their company. Also note that they spoke about using it in the IoT.

 

[Fjodor2001]

I.e. Intel is desperate, being attacked on all fronts. So they want to play it safe and buys Altera for an inflated price "just in case". Like the SemiAccurate article said:

"Intel’s FPGA announcement is simply palpable desperation [...] Vapor backed by audience ignorance is the new norm [...] If you read the release/blog post by Intel closely, you will see it is a carefully crafted BS piece to intone that Facebook, Ebay, Google, and others are on board without actually saying that. It is hard to have partners for something that was just made up in the last 24 hours as a PR stunt."

Is it even likely to be 1/3 of the cloud service provider nodes?

And in any case, I wonder how much of the server market that equates to. Enough to warrant a $17B investment? Questionable...

Maybe it's just top management wanting to play it safe. And perhaps grab some usual M&A bonus while at it.

 

[Sweepr]

Good move by Intel. Ps: Charlie's boring Intel hate articles are getting more ''desperate'' everyday.
I wonder how many AMDs they could buy with that money.

 

[dahorns]

I.e. Intel is desperate, being attacked on all fronts. So they want to play it safe and buys Altera for an inflated price "just in case". Like the SemiAccurate article said:

"Intel’s FPGA announcement is simply palpable desperation [...] Vapor backed by audience ignorance is the new norm [...] If you read the release/blog post by Intel closely, you will see it is a carefully crafted BS piece to intone that Facebook, Ebay, Google, and others are on board without actually saying that. It is hard to have partners for something that was just made up in the last 24 hours as a PR stunt."

Is it even likely to be 1/3 of the cloud service provider nodes?

And in any case, I wonder how much of the server market that equates to. Enough to warrant a $17B investment? Questionable...

Maybe it's just top management wanting to play it safe. And perhaps grab some usual M&A bonus while at it.

Keep in mind that the SemiAccurate article is very old. The desperation was a reference to Intel announcing a Xeon/FPGA hybrid without any product specifications or even an FPGA partner. Things seem a little different when you're talking about the outright acquisition of the 2nd largest FPGA firm, which Intel has been working with pretty closely for a few years now.

 

[mrmt]

Good move by Intel. Ps: Charlie's boring Intel hate articles are getting more ''desperate'' everyday.
I wonder how many AMDs they could buy with that money.

He is very good in getting leaks but definitely not good in getting business trends.

 

[Sonikku]

misread title as 'Africa' and was confused

Intel in talks to buy Africa!

When will their conquest stop?!

 

[ShintaiDK]

Did someone really read Charlies nonsense and then took it serious?

 

[Fjodor2001]

Did someone really read Charlies nonsense and then took it serious?

Got any other solid data to back up a different story? So far it's just speculation on what part of the server market might eventually use this.

It's a huge $17B gamble by Intel, to play it safe. Management don't want to wake up in 5 years and having missed a new market segment, like they did with mobile. So they are paying $17B of the shareholder's money to get rid of that risk for themselves.

 

[mrmt]

Got any other solid data to back up a different story? So far it's just speculation on what part of the server market might eventually use this.

It's a huge $17B gamble by Intel, to play it safe. Management don't want to wake up in 5 years and having missed a new market segment, like they did with mobile. So they are paying $17B of the shareholder's money to get rid of that risk for themselves.

And that's what we should expect Intel management to do.

 

[positivedoppler]

It's still a lose lose situation for Intel if the drive towards fpga is cheaper chips. Still, Intel must have an insane wade of cash reserve to first continue the 1 billion/quarter contract revenue program then bling out another 17 billion for a just in case. Make me wonder who they'll buy next. Might as well swallow up ARMS holding for some more synergy

 

[Systems analyst]

There is an interesting article in Seeking Alpha:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3055016-what-intels-buyout-of-altera-means-for-the-fpga-industry

It seems that it may be a defensive move by Intel.

 

[dealcorn]

There is some debate whether FPGA's are best matched to big core Xeons (Intel position) vs Atom core Xeons (ARM faction position). Different application may have different requirements. Intel is the only vendor positioned to ride this wave which ever way it breaks.

I expect the savings that result from G&A headcount reductions will be offset by increased spending on engineering as Intel tries to broaden the served market with new targeted niche libraries. This will be fun to watch.

 

[dark zero]

There is an interesting article in Seeking Alpha:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/3055016-what-intels-buyout-of-altera-means-for-the-fpga-industry

It seems that it may be a defensive move by Intel.

Not only defensive... With that tech on their side, they could defy nVIDIA against their GPGPU and even more, taking them down in that part...

Intel is about to attack AMD, NVIDIA, ARM and Power together