Altera Receives Stratix II Wafers Ahead of Schedule

Industry¡¯s First High-Density 90nm FPGAs on Track for Mid-Year Sampling

San Jose, Calif., June 2, 2004 ©¤ Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) today announced that it has received the first Stratix® II EP2S60 wafers from TSMC ahead of schedule and is on track to ship its new high-density FPGA device this quarter.  As the industry¡¯s first high-density 90-nm FPGAs and the first to be manufactured using low-k dielectric materials, the EP2S60 devices have undergone extensive initial testing and are functional.  Complete device evaluation is ongoing.  Altera¡¯s expected first-time success of the Stratix II family¡¯s rollout will be another important milestone in the company¡¯s track record of excellence in the execution and rollout of new products.

Stratix II FPGAs are manufactured on TSMC¡¯s standard 90-nm, low-k process.  Following the same successful methodology used to develop and rollout Altera¡¯s 0.13-micron products, Stratix II FPGAs are meeting all yield, performance, and power targets set at the product definition stage and are expected to roll out and ramp to production quickly to meet significant market demand.

¡°We are very encouraged by the results of the first wafers¡ªeven more encouraged than we were at this same stage of the 0.13-micron development process,¡± said Bradley Howe, Altera¡¯s vice president of IC design.  ¡°We set very aggressive targets at the onset and are proud to announce that we have met every single one of them. This proves without a doubt that our integrated engineering approach to product development with TSMC is successful and will continue to be a major benefit to our customers.¡±

The Stratix II architecture features a new, innovative logic structure that offers more than double the logic density in a single device and 50 percent higher performance when compared to the nearest competitive FPGA.  This latest generation of Altera¡¯s high-density FPGA architecture is 25 percent more efficient than first-generation Stratix devices, allowing designers to pack more functionality into less logic area.  The combination of the low-k 90-nm manufacturing process and a highly efficient architecture enables maximum integration, resulting in dramatic cost reductions, as well as major performance improvements, when compared to previous high-density architectures.

Stratix II devices are supported by the Quartus® II version 4.0 design software, the industry¡¯s most advanced design software.  Developed with many new ASIC-like design capabilities, the Quartus II design software offers customers a comprehensive suite of synthesis, optimization, verification, and system-level design tools in a single, unified design environment.  Altera also offers off-the-shelf IP cores optimized for Stratix II devices.

For more information about Stratix II devices, log on to www.altera.com/stratix2.

About Altera
Altera Corporation (NASDAQ: ALTR) is the world¡¯s pioneer in system-on-a-programmable-chip (SOPC) solutions.  Combining programmable logic technology with software tools, intellectual property, and technical services, Altera provides high-value programmable solutions to approximately 14,000 customers worldwide.  More information is available at www.altera.com.

Safe Harbor
This press release contains ¡°forward-looking statements¡± that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements are generally preceded by words that imply a future state such as ¡°expected¡± or ¡°on track¡± or that imply that a particular future event or events will occur such as ¡°will¡±.  Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements in this release involve risks and uncertainty, including without limitation the risk that future performance is dependent on our technology development capabilities, meeting our product development schedules, the design performance of software and other tools, and the performance and abilities of our subcontractors to provide wafers and assembly/test services in a timely manner.  Please refer to the company¡¯s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, copies of which are available from the company without charge.

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