Community Forums => General Chat => Topic started by: tendoboy1984 on April 25, 2012, 11:15:54 PM
Title: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: tendoboy1984 on April 25, 2012, 11:15:54 PM
I've been reading about how ARM processors are used in a majority of mobile devices (phones, tablets, handhelds, etc.). Is there an actual company named ARM (directly competing with Intel, AMD, Nvidia)?
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: MegaByte on April 25, 2012, 11:27:41 PM
Yes. Nividia uses ARM too for their mobile stuff, though.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: tendoboy1984 on April 25, 2012, 11:31:04 PM
Yes. Nividia uses ARM too for their mobile stuff, though.
So if ARM is an actual company, then that means they are directly competing with Intel, AMD, and Nvidia, right?
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: TJ Spyke on April 25, 2012, 11:35:39 PM
ARM doesn't really make its own CPUs, they mostly just license their tech to other companies. Intel and AMD both license their technology. As does Nvidia, Apple, Nintendo, Samsung, Texas Instruments, and others.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: MegaByte on April 25, 2012, 11:36:15 PM
They're only now competing with Intel because until very recently, their markets didn't overlap (ARM PCs are just getting started, Windows 8 will run on ARM, and the first Intel phones just came out). AMD may be making a deal with ARM. And as I said, Nvidia already uses ARM designs in their mobile chips.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: tendoboy1984 on April 26, 2012, 12:16:49 AM
ARM doesn't really make its own CPUs, they mostly just license their tech to other companies. Intel and AMD both license their technology. As does Nvidia, Apple, Nintendo, Samsung, Texas Instruments, and others.
Hmm, interesting. So they're not really a chip manufacturer then. Pretty much the opposite of Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: BranDonk Kong on April 26, 2012, 12:21:15 AM
ARM is a chip designer, not exactly a manufacturer. Pretty much every tablet and modern cell phone uses an ARM processor. It's more like these companies use ARM's designs to compete with each other, at least it was before Intel got into the phone game, and ARM got into the PC game.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: TJ Spyke on April 26, 2012, 12:22:37 AM
They do make processors and semi-conductors; but yeah, their biggest business is software design and licensing those IPs to others.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: tendoboy1984 on April 26, 2012, 12:25:54 AM
ARM is a chip designer, not exactly a manufacturer. Pretty much every tablet and modern cell phone uses an ARM processor. It's more like these companies use ARM's designs to compete with each other, at least it was before Intel got into the phone game, and ARM got into the PC game.
So ARM is competing with Intel, Nvidia, and AMD then. All of those companies design their own chips, right?
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: TJ Spyke on April 26, 2012, 12:27:47 AM
ARM is a chip designer, not exactly a manufacturer. Pretty much every tablet and modern cell phone uses an ARM processor. It's more like these companies use ARM's designs to compete with each other, at least it was before Intel got into the phone game, and ARM got into the PC game.
So ARM is competing with Intel, Nvidia, and AMD then. All of those companies design their own chips, right?
Not quite. AMD and Nivida mainly make GPU chips, ARM designs CPU chips.
Title: Re: Is ARM an actual company?
Post by: MegaByte on April 26, 2012, 12:32:03 AM
