ARM co-founders fear NVIDIA takeover
NVIDIA is still seen as the main bidder for the UK chipmaker ARM. Analysts believe this deal will definitely affect the entire industry, but they are not yet ready to talk about the true motives of the graphics chip manufacturer. But the co-founder of ARM Hermann Hauser has once again expressed his assumptions in this regard.
He believes that instead of capitalizing on a vast portfolio of intellectual property, NVIDIA can buy ARM for only one purpose – to later bury it as an independent developer.
“As semiconductor manufacturers, they can buy ARM and then destroy it. And thanks to this, they will be able to reap much more benefits than the $ 40 billion they would have to spend on the purchase, ” Hauser said in an interview with NS Tech.
The technologies developed by ARM are used today in almost all types of electronic devices. They are found in smartphones, tablets and wireless routers, wearable electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. And it’s not just about compact gadgets. Apple is developing its own processors for Mac computers based on ARM architecture, which will replace Intel processors. ARM technologies are even used in server systems, such as Ampere Computing’s recently introduced 128-core Altra Max processor.
ARM’s influence and importance extend across multiple segments of the IT market. By cutting ARM from it, NVIDIA can effectively take over Intel’s microprocessor maker crown and become the leading processor supplier for 95% of smartphones, as well as 90% of the controllers used in IoT devices, Hauser said. In addition, this will open up more promising opportunities for it in the data center market, where NVIDIA is already actively working. Recall, according to the latest financial report, this sector brought the company even more revenue than gaming graphics cards.
Of course, Hauser simply speculates on this topic and is not guided by some kind of internal knowledge. And while his intended outcome is indeed possible, it is not the only one. NVIDIA may be equally interested in acquiring ARM intellectual property and then using it in its own products.
Yet Hauser’s assumptions are not only shared by him. A similar opinion was expressed by another co-founder of ARM, Tudor Brown (Tudor Brown). In his opinion, NVIDIA wants to buy a microprocessor developer only in order to get “early access to the most advanced and innovative products, thereby depriving other market players of access to them. “