Nvidia had not been able to buy ARM, Qualcomm would have found the solution: to ally with its competitors. Enough to keep ARM’s independence and to make eyes at the competition authorities.
Last February, we learned that Nvidia was abandoning its plan to buy ARM for 66 billion dollars. Indeed, this takeover posed a problem for the various competition authorities, especially for the FTC in the United States. Cristiano Amon, CEO of Qualcomm, told the FinancialTimes that his company was in favor of the idea of investing in ARM and even said it was willing to join forces with its competitors to validate the takeover.
ARM which is very successful with its components, its architecture being more and more favored in manufactured products. The semiconductor industry represents 500 billion dollars a year and ARM is neutral there. The company signs license agreements with all types of partners; its intellectual property is used in most chips sold around the world.
An IPO for ARM
Currently, ARM is owned by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The latter plans to introduce ARM on the New York Stock Exchange while Nvidia has entered the capital of the SoC company.
An introduction that raises questions and raises concerns; indeed, the semiconductor company has a major role in the technology sector. An opening could call into question the very independence of ARM.
Qualcomm interested in investing in ARM
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon therefore announced to the FinancialTimes that his company is interested in investing in ARM, stating that ” it is a very important asset and it is an asset that will be essential to the development of our industry “.
But above all, he added that Qualcomm could join forces with other electronic component manufacturers to buy ARM, provided that this consortium is “ large enough “. We can assume that if he says this, it is not to please his competitors, but above all to maximize the chances that this takeover will succeed and not break his teeth like Nvidia. According to Cristiano Amon, there should in fact be enough participating companies not to question the independence of ARM, especially because of its importance in the field of technology.
ARM, an interesting (and profitable) investment
Qualcomm had also opposed this takeover by Nvidia a few months ago, ” claiming that it was absurd for a chipmaker to take control of a company that had fundamental value for the entire industry “. Fortunately for him, he is not alone. the FinancialTimes reports that Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said he was open to such a move some time ago.
Beyond the aspect of Qualcomm’s potential control over ARM, what interests Cristiano Amon is probably also the financial aspect of the investment. Indeed, the FinancialTimes writes that ARM “ announced record annual revenue of $2.7 billion in 2021, up 35% from the prior year “. What relates to ARM are the licenses, since the income related to them ” increased by nearly two-thirds […] to reach $1.5 billion “. For comparison, Qualcomm’s revenue in 2021 was $33.6 billion for $8.54 billion in profit.
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