The secret is in Altera’s programmable chips.

August 28, 2015 -- Three months ago Intel said it would buy chip maker Altera in a  deal valued at $16.7 billion. It was a significant investment for the world’s largest chip company and much was made over the consolidation in the semiconductor industry. On Thursday however, we got a lot more color on why Intel plans to plunk down a considerable hunk of money for Altera.