Intel Saying Goodbye to FPGA Business

By all accounts, Intel’s Programmable Solutions Group has been one of the bright spots amidst a sea of other troubled businesses. But as Intel’s core business has and always will be its processors, the company is focusing its energy to trying to right the ship there.

In a recent announcement, Intel announced it would separate its Programmable Solutions Group into a standalone business, starting in January. The company will report PSG as a separate business unit when it releases first-quarter 2024 financials. Intel is seeking to eventually conduct an IPO for the PSG business, and is considering opening the unit to private investors, while retaining a majority stake.

According to Intel, both companies will remain strategically aligned, including continuing PSG’s relationship with Intel Foundry Services (IFS), as they work together to address key areas of the FPGA market. Building on PSG’s highly successful Supply Resilience program pilot, the relationship with IFS will also uniquely enable PSG to give customers greater predictability of supply aligned to their needs, ensuring a more resilient supply chain.

Intel acquired the Programmable Solutions Group when it purchased Altera for $16.7 billion in 2015. FPGAS remain a bright spot in the chip market as users want the performance and flexibility these devices offer. In particular, users are eyeing FPGAs for growth markets such as artificial intelligence and edge computing. Intel’s PSG competes against suppliers such as Lattice Semiconductor and Microchip.

Recently, Intel launched its Agilex 7 with the R Tile chiplet, giving customers an FPGA with PCIe 5.0 and CXL capabilities.

The spin-off programmable chip unit will be headed by Sandra Rivera, executive vice president at Intel. Shannon Poulin has been named chief operating officer.

For Intel, the move is the latest in a series of actions to stabilize its business and return to sustained profitability.

Intel recently completed an IPO for its Mobileye business. The company also recently integrated its Accelerated Computing Systems and Graphics Group into its Client Computing Group and Data Center and AI Group, a move the company said would accelerate the scale of these businesses while also reducing costs.

In its second quarter, Intel posted net earnings of $1.5 billion on revenue of $12.9 billion, as the company has started reversing a string of unprofitable quarters.