Altera Announces First Quarter Results; Increases Quarterly Dividend

Altera's Stratix(R) III FPGAs have been presented with the International Engineering Consortium's (IEC) DesignVision Award in the semiconductor and IC category. Stratix III FPGAs were recognized by the IEC for their unique and innovative architecture, which enables Altera to deliver the industry's highest performance and lowest power high-end FPGAs. Started in 2005, the IEC's DesignVision Award recognizes technologies, applications, products, and services judged to be the most unique and beneficial to the industry. DesignVision Award candidates are judged based on innovation, uniqueness, market impact, customer benefits and value to society.

The company's Arria(TM) GX transceiver-based FPGA family has received two distinguished industry recognitions. From the EN-Genius Network, Arria GX FPGAs received the annual "Product of the Year" award for best value high-performance FPGA. EN-Genius editorial staff selects award-winning products based on technical merit, design innovation and marketability. From EDN magazine, Arria GX FPGAs were named to its "Hot 100 Products" list in the digital and programmable ICs category. EDN's "Hot 100 Products" identify products that will have the greatest significance to the design engineering community.

Following the initial customer adoption of the Arria GX family for high-volume opportunities, further enhancements have now been incorporated into the family that increase transceiver speeds and provide additional serial protocol support. Based on proven Stratix II GX technology, these new capabilities and 3.125 Gbps transceiver speed broaden the markets that can be served by this product family. Arria GX FPGAs now provide new levels of value in communications, broadcast, computer, storage, and industrial markets. All Arria GX devices are now shipping and available.

Altera's new zero-power MAX(R) IIZ CPLDs received the 2008 Editor's Choice Award by Portable Design magazine in the programmable logic category and the Product of the Year Award from Electronic Products China. The Portable Design award recognizes innovative electronic components that make possible the design of leading-edge portable products. The Electronic Products China award is given to products that show significant progress in technology, innovative design or offer distinct price performance improvements compared to competing devices. Altera developed MAX IIZ CPLDs to break through the power, space and cost limitations of traditional CPLDs by combining non-volatility and instant-on operation with an innovative look-up table logic structure and an unprecedented combination of logic, I/O and low power. These capabilities increase Altera's appeal to designers of smart phones, GPS, and other portable electronic system applications.