ARM, the British company behind the ARM architecture that is licensed to many of the world’s chip makers, is said to be developing its own chip, according to the Financial Times.
According to FT’s sources, it is a prototype that is more advanced than the test chips it has produced in the past. According to the sources, ARM began developing the chip prototype six months ago. ARM has never sold chips on a large scale before, instead licensing them to chip giants like Qualcomm and Mediatek. If ARM were to start selling its own chips in the future, it would begin competing with its own customers, something that is causing some concern in the semiconductor industry, according to the Financial Times.
ARM is currently owned by Japan’s SoftBank and is said to be going public soon. Something that could increase the value of ARM before a potential IPO would be to start selling its own chips on a large scale. ARM has not commented on the FT’s reports that it is developing its own chip.
