Altera continues market share position in Japan

Programmable logic provider Altera Japan Ltd, a subsidiary of Altera Corp., is commemorating its 15th anniversary this week. According to Altera, about 25 percent of its business comes from the region, more than double the size of a typical foreign semiconductor company.

For Altera, the key to success in Japan has been the fundamental belief of "listening to the voice of the customer." By paying attention to the needs of its Japanese customers, Altera has established strong partnerships with many of Japan's primary innovators, and as a result, has enjoyed a position in the Japanese market.

Innovation in programmable logic market

Altera's innovative approach to business has involved more than just leading-edge technology. For example, the company hosts an annual one-day event, PLD World, to help customers gain a deeper understanding of how their programmable logic solutions address the system-level design issues of today and tomorrow. This year's PLD World will take place in Tokyo on October 21 and in Osaka on October 28.

The programmable logic vendor has mass produced lead-free semiconductor devices to meet the growing environmental concerns of its Japanese customers. Altera began lead-free product development in 2000 and began shipping production quantities to customers in 2002. All of Altera's lead-free products meet the requirements of the European Parliament's Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive, an initiative to reduce the content of hazardous substances in electronic equipment. They also meet the requirements of Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) to use only lead-free solder in all new products.

"Listening to the voice of the Japanese customer is the fundamental success factor of our business in Japan," said John Daane, president, CEO and chairman of the board at Altera. "By working closely with our customers, we have learned a great deal, and this has enabled us to develop innovative solutions and support models. We can contribute this to our leading position in the Japanese programmable logic market," added Daane.

Japan continues to lead in the adoption of Altera's latest product families, Stratix II FPGAs, Cyclone II FPGAs, MAX II CPLDs and Nios II soft embedded processor. With innovations occurring in digital entertainment products, such as flat panel displays, DVD-HDD recorders, fiber-to-the-home access products and mobile and telecommunications technologies, Altera will continue to invest and develop innovative solutions that will enable Japanese customers to maintain their competitive edge.