PUSHBACK OVER ARM DEAL

PROPOSED ACQUISITION WILL SHAKE MARKET

NVIDIA’S PLANS to spend $40 billion buying ARM has caused waves in the x86 industry. If you want an x86 processor you go to Intel or AMD, or you use a company that employs an ARM design. These include Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Huawei, and other big players. Many more have ARM architectural licenses, or intellectual property licenses, including AMD and Intel, while others have huge racks of ARM servers, notably Amazon. ARM-based designs have been used in more devices than any other company—over 160 billion so far. Owning ARM would give Nvidia some serious leverage across the tech world. The obvious concern is that Nvidia will start saving the best ARM technology for itself, and start squeezing other users, many of which have no ready alternative. Previously ARM has been fairly generous with its licensing terms. Its present owner, the Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank, has run ARM with a light touch. Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm have requested that anti-trust officials look into the proposed deal. Nvidia now has to convince the regulators that it will use its extremely strong market position fairly, which should prove interesting.