Altera Reduces Prices by Half on High-Density FLEX 10K Family; Most Aggressive Price Reductions in PLD Industry; FLEX 10K Offers the Highest Density at the Lowest Cost.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 1996--Altera Corporation (NASDAQ:ALTR) today announced that list prices on its high-density FLEX 10K family of programmable logic devices (PLDs) have been reduced up to 50 percent. The Altera FLEX 10K family of devices is the highest density family of programmable logic available, with devices up to 100,000 gates. The family pioneered the concept of embedded architectures for programmable logic, offering up to 24,000 bits of optimized memory. "These price reductions are a result of our fab partnership with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and our redundancy technology," said Erik Cleage, Altera's vice president of marketing. "Increased process and manufacturing efficiencies combined with the increased yield provided by our patented redundancy technology have resulted in dramatic cost reductions, which we are passing along to our customers."

Most Aggressive Price Reductions in PLD Industry

While programmable logic prices tend to decrease about 30 percent every 12 months, Altera has exceeded this pace, particularly for the FLEX 10K family. Since its introduction in late 1995, the North American 100-unit list price of the EPF10K50 device has declined 80 percent. The EPF10K100 is the largest available programmable logic device with 100,000 gates. Since its introduction in March of 1996, the North American list price in 100-unit quantities has declined 40 percent in 7 months.

Highest Density at the Lowest Cost

Not only does the FLEX 10K family offer the highest density devices in the industry, it does so at a price point significantly below that of the competition. Based upon the most recent pricing information, the lowest prices for the largest devices offered by competitors are $664.90 for a claimed 25,000 gate device, and $539 for a claimed 40,000 gate device, in 100-unit quantities. Altera's 100-unit North American price for its 50,000 gate EPF10K50 is $195 in 100-unit quantities, offering a per gate price which is less than half that of the closest competitor.

Rapid Price Reductions Makes FLEX 10K a Production Option

"The FLEX 10K family spans a wide range of densities, from 10,000 to 100,000 gates," stated Mr. Cleage. "The rapid price reductions are quickly moving the 10,000 and 20,000 gate devices into a price range where engineers can use FLEX 10K in production volumes." By mid 1997, it is anticipated that the volume price of the EPF10K10 and EPF10K20 will be within 2x the price of similar density gate arrays, a price point at which many engineers will use a programmable solution over a gate array. The EPF10K10 is currently offered at $22.50 in 100-unit quantities.

Availability

FLEX 10K family members are available now in a range of speed grades and PGA, BGA, and QFP package options. The following table shows devices which are currently available in the FLEX 10 family.

-0-

               FLEX 10K Family North American Pricing

        Device         100-unit List Price      Projected 1997
                                               Volume(a) Pricing

       EPF10K10              $22.50                 $12.50
       EPF10K20              $53.50                 $22.50
       EPF10K30              $87.50                 $35.00
       EPF10K50             $195.00                 $75.00
       EPF10K100            $595.00                $295.00

(a) In 25,000-unit quantities for EPF10K10, EPF10K20, EPF10K30, and
5,000-unit quantities for EPF10K50 and EPF10K100

About Altera

Altera Corporation, founded in 1983, is a world-wide leader in high-performance, high-density programmable logic devices and assicated computer aided engineering (CAE) logic development tools. Programmable logic devices are semiconductor chips that offer on-site programmability to customers. The chips are programmed using tools that run on personal computers or engineering work stations. User benefits include ease of use, lower risk, and fast time-to-market. The Company offers the broadest line of CMOS programmable logic devices that address high-speed, high-density, and lower power applications. Altera products serve a broad range of markets, including telecommunications, data communications, computers, and industrial applications. Altera common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Stock market using the symbol ALTR. More information on Altera can be obtained on the World Wide Web at http://www.altera.com. -0-

Note to Editors: Altera, FLEX, FLEX 10K, and specific device designations are trademarks and/or servicemarks of Altera Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

CONTACT: Altera Corporation

Robert K. Beachler or Cliff Tong, 408/894-7000

or

Cain Communications

Susan Cain, 408/291-2580