HomeWinBuzzer NewsReport: Arm Developing Its Own Prototype Processor to Show off Its Designs

Report: Arm Developing Its Own Prototype Processor to Show off Its Designs

Arm is reportedly working on its own processor that it will use in-house to test its chip designs before licensing them to manufacturers.

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Arm is a familiar name in the semiconductor/chip market and supplies designs for many of the chips on global laptops and smartphones. However, an interesting fact about the company – that some may not know – is that it does not build its own chips. There is no Arm CPU, but that might be changing. A new report from the Financial Times suggests the company is developing a prototype chipset.

The move comes as the SoftBank-owned company prepares for a public listing on Nasdaq later this year. According to sources cited in the report, Arm has formed a new “solutions engineering” team that will lead the development of these prototype chips for mobile devices, laptops and other electronics.

The team is headed by Kevork Kechichian, a veteran of the chip industry who previously worked at NXP and , where he oversaw the development of the flagship Snapdragon chip.

While Arm is a powerhouse in the chip market, it does not make hardware. Instead, the company develops chip designs and licenses its blueprints to tech chip manufacturers. That includes Apple and Microsoft, as well as many other brands. Because it is not involved in the production, Arm is not competing against many other chip giants directly and is able to work with many companies while remaining neutral in the industry.

Will Arm's In-Development Chip Disrupt the Market?

There has always been a claim that if Arm did develop its own processors, it would become a potent rival to companies such as Qualcomm. Arm's new chip does not fall into this category because the sources claim the company has no intention of selling or licensing the chip. Instead, it will be used in-house to test the company's designs.

The sources said that Arm's new chip is “more advanced” than any previous test chip that the company has built with partners such as Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The aim is to demonstrate the power and performance of Arm's designs to potential customers and investors, as well as to enhance the security and accessibility of its products.

Arm is expected to go public on Nasdaq in late 2023 or early 2024, with a valuation of around $100 billion.

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Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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