Altera 4Q07 Update
Revenues in Q4 were up by a modest 2% qoq which stood at $323 million. New category products saw revenues grow 9% sequentially in this quarter. In terms of product families, CPLDs declined by a percentile which are used in a number of communication devices. FPGAs however grew by 4%. Among the products Max II CPLDs registered record revenue in this quarter which was up by 8%.
Operating expenses were around 44% of the revenues. Of these $71 million were spent on R&D. Although operating expenses were cut by 3% the R&D spending went up by 6% reflecting better expense management on selling, management and other costs.
Communications segment was the strongest segment in the quarter. It grew by 4% while other segments were pretty flat. Telecom business was down but wireless and networking grew by double digits. Japan was the strongest market and China the weakest by country although Asia-Pacific block was the weakest in terms of business. North America and Europe were mixed in terms of growth.
Among product and customer announcements in communications space, Altera announced that Microtronix Datacom has developed ViClaro III Video Intellectual Property development kits using Cyclone III FPGA. Vector also adopted Cyclone III FPGA for its network interface product line in the quarter.
For accelerating delivery of FPGA based broadband applications, Altera announced its MSAN Partner Ecosystem to enable efficiencies in cost, power, product evolution and enhancements.
The quarter also saw Greg E Myers joining the company’s board. Myers spent around 12 years with Symantec Corporation.
