The chip design giant wants to join the competition of manufacturers, and it is reported that Arm plans to build its own advanced semiconductors.
CTOnews.com, April 23 (Xinhua)-- Arm, a chip design company owned by Softbank Corp. Group, will work with manufacturing partners to develop its own semiconductors, seeking to attract new customers and boost the company's growth after the IPO, which is expected to be completed later this year, according to the Financial Times.
Arm, a Cambridge-based chip designer, uses more than 95 per cent of the world's smartphones, including big manufacturers such as Apple, Qualcomm and MediaTek. However, Arm does not directly produce chips, but sells blueprints to chip manufacturers to implement and produce them. This model makes Arm the "Switzerland" of the semiconductor industry, not competing directly with any customers, but also making huge profits.
Recently, however, Arm has a bold plan: the company will build its own chips, demonstrate its design capabilities and performance advantages, and attract more customers and investors. According to people familiar with the matter, the chip will be the most advanced chip-making attempt in Arm's history and is intended for use in mobile devices, laptops and other electronic products. Arm has formed a new "solution engineering" team to lead the project, led by chip industry veteran Kevork Kechichian, who once led the development of Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon chip.
The reason why Arm has such a move has a lot to do with its parent company, Softbank Corp.. Softbank Corp., a Japanese investment group, bought Arm for $32 billion in 2016 and plans to list it on New York's Nasdaq later this year. In order to improve the profitability and market attractiveness of Arm, Softbank Corp. pushed Arm to change some business models and pricing strategies, as well as increase investment in R & D and innovation.
However, Arm's chip production plan has also raised some concerns and questions. On the one hand, if Arm does make a good chip, will it consider selling or licensing it to other companies to become a competitor to its own customers? Will this undermine the neutrality and credibility of Arm in the industry? On the other hand, chip making is not an easy task and requires a lot of money, technology and time investment. Even giants like Apple and Qualcomm need to iterate and improve their products for many generations to get to where they are today. Does Arm have the strength and patience to go this way?
At present, Arm has not publicly disclosed the details and progress of its chip production plan. It is reported that the plan is only a prototype test and has no commercial intention. But in any case, it shows Arm's ambition and determination in the semiconductor field, and adds more highlights and topics to its upcoming listing.
