The global semiconductor industry is undergoing a rapid reorganization.
According to industry sources on June 3, Avago Technologies, a Singaporean specialist in the manufacturing of semiconductors for use in wireless telecommunication and data storage, acquired a U.S. chip maker Broadcom for US$37 billion last week. This acquisition is followed by Intel’s acquisition of Altera Corp. for $16.7 billion.
Altera is specialized in the production of digital circuit chip PLDs (programmable logic devices) and FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays). Altera has the second largest market share in this segment.
By absorbing Altera, Intel, which commands an 80-percent share in the global microprocessor market, is expected to be able to expand its revenues by about $2 billion from last year’s $51.2 billion to $53 billion.
Samsung Electronics achieved semiconductor revenue of $37.2 billion last year. Intel’s acquisition of Altera could expand their revenue gap from $14 billion to more than $16 billion.
