Key Stats about ARM
- ARM's net sales in the 2021 fiscal year were approximately USD 2.7 billion, up from USD 1.81 billion in the previous fiscal year.
- On 5 September 2016, Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group completed the transaction to buy ARM for £23.4 billion (US$32 billion).
- ARM was valued at $80 billion in late 2021 amid the deal with NVIDIA.
- As of 2021, ARM revenue hit USD 2.7 billion.
- In 2021, Arm reported shipped 29 billion Arm-based chips.
- Arm Holdings has acquired 19 organizations. Their most recent acquisition was Falanx Microsystems on Jun 23, 2020.
- Arm Holdings has made 22 investments. Their most recent investment was on Jun 7, 2022, when Arduino raised $32 million.
- In December 2021, Arm’s licensees reported shipments of 7.8 billion Arm-based chips.
Source: Statista 1, Statista 2, BBC, Silicon Republic
About ARM (Company)
Arm is a company designing chips (micrprocessors) and other technoloy & software. Let's have a look at their earnings and more interesting data!
Key Stats | Key Info |
Date founded | 27 November 1990 |
Industry | Semiconductors |
Type | Subsidiary |
Parent Company | SoftBank Group |
Headquarters | Cambridge, England, UK |
Founders | Jamie Urquhart, Mike Muller, Tudor Brown, Lee Smith, John Biggs, Harry Oldham, Dave Howard, Pete Harrod, Harry Meekings, Al Thomas, Andy Merritt, David Seal. |
Key people | Rene Haas (CEO) |
Products | Microprocessor designs, graphics processing unit (GPU) designs and neural processing unit (NPU) designs |
Revenue | USD2.7 billion |
Valuation | $80 billion (2021) |
Net Sales | $2 billion |
Number of employees | 6,950 |
URL | www.arm.com |
Source: Statista 1, Statista 2, BBC, Silicon Republic
ARM Valuation
ARM was valued at $80 billion in 2021 amid the deal with NVIDIA.
Year | Valuation |
2021 | $80 billion |
2020 | $40 billion |
Currently, there have only been two valuations of ARM.
The first ARM valuation was of $40 billion in 2020, and then the second one was one year after, when the number doubled.
Source: Reuters, Forbes
ARM Revenue
As of 2021, ARM revenue hit USD 2.7 billion.
Year | Revenue |
2021 | USD2.7 billion |
2020 | USD2 billion |
2019 | USD1.9 billion |
2018 | USD1.84 billion |
2017 | USD1.83 billion |
2016 | USD1.69 billion |
2015 | USD1.56 billion |
In 2020, ARM first reached the milestone of $2 billion of revenue. Before that, the number was slowly growing with each new year.
Looking at the data, we can say that ARM's revenue was always pretty much slow(er) but steady.
Source: Softbank, Statista, Digitimes, Gizmo China
ARM Net Sales
ARM's net sales in the 2021 fiscal year were approximately USD2 billion, up from USD1.81 billion in the previous fiscal year.
Year | Net Sales |
2022 | $719 million (Q1 of 2022) |
2021 | $2 billion |
2020 | $1.81 billion |
2019 | $1.79 billion |
2018 | $1.76 billion |
2017 | $1.69 billion |
As for the net sales, they are also slow but steady as well. As of 2017 ARM's net sales were always of over $1.69 billion.
Source: Statista 1, Statista 2
ARM EBITDA
Regarding EBITDA, the table below shows ARM's situation in the 2017-2022 Q1 interval.
Year | Net Sales |
2022 | $719 million (Q1 of 2022) |
2021 | $2 billion |
2020 | $1.81 billion |
2019 | $1.79 billion |
2018 | $1.76 billion |
2017 | $1.69 billion |
Source: Softbank
How many ARM-based chips were shipped?
In 2021, Arm reported shipped 29 billion Arm-based chips.
Year | Number of ARM chip shipments |
2021 | 29.2 billion ARM chip shipments |
2020 | 25 billion ARM chip shipments |
2019 | 22.8 billion ARM chip shipments |
2018 | 22.7 billion ARM chip shipments |
2017 | 21.3 billion ARM chip shipments |
2016 (Q4) | 5.1 billion ARM chip shipments |
ARM shipped more chips with each new year. I nfact, every new year has at least 1 more billion chips shipped compared to the previous year.
Source: Statista, ARM
ARM Acquisitions
ARM has acquired 19 organizations. Their most recent acquisition was Falanx Microsystems on Jun 23, 2020.
Acquiree Name | Announced Date | Price | Transaction Name |
Falanx Microsystems | Jun 23, 2020 | — | Falanx Microsystems acquired by Arm Holdings |
Stream Technologies | Jun 12, 2018 | — | Stream Technologies acquired by Arm Holdings |
Simulity | Jul 2017 | — | Simulity acquired by Arm Holdings |
NextG-Com | Feb 22, 2017 | — | NextG-Com acquired by Arm Holdings |
Mistbase | Feb 20, 2017 | — | Mistbase acquired by Arm Holdings |
Allinea Software | Dec 16, 2016 | — | Allinea Software acquired by Arm Holdings |
Apical | May 18, 2016 | $350M | Apical acquired by Arm Holdings |
Carbon Design Systems | Oct 19, 2015 | — | Carbon Design Systems acquired by Arm Holdings |
Sansa Security | Jul 30, 2015 | $70M | Sansa Security acquired by Arm Holdings |
Wicentric | Apr 16, 2015 | — | Wicentric acquired by Arm Holdings |
The list above highlights all of the 19 companies acquired by ARM.
Source: Crunchbase
ARM Investments
ARM has made 22 investments. Their most recent investment was on Jun 7, 2022, when Arduino raised $32 million.
Announced Date | Organization Name | Lead Investor | Funding Round | Money Raised |
Jun 7, 2022 | Arduino | — | Series B - Arduino | $32M |
Oct 18, 2021 | PragmatIC Semiconductor | Yes | Series C - PragmatIC Semiconductor | $80M |
Oct 1, 2020 | Cerfe Labs | — | Seed Round - Cerfe Labs | — |
Dec 20, 2019 | Swim | — | Series B - Swim | $7M |
May 3, 2019 | Blu Wireless | Yes | Venture Round - Blu Wireless | £12.7M |
Apr 11, 2019 | Ampere Computing | — | Venture Round - Ampere Computing | — |
Aug 1, 2018 | Centrillion Technologies | Yes | Corporate Round - Centrillion Technologies | — |
Jun 5, 2018 | Ambiq Micro | No | Venture Round - Ambiq Micro | $11.4M |
Jun 1, 2018 | SeeChange | Yes | Pre Seed Round - SeeChange | — |
Apr 27, 2018 | Civil Maps | Yes | Series A - Civil Maps | $10M |
The table shows you how there were 5 lead investors in the 2018-2022 interval.
Source: Crunchbase
ARM Diversity Investments
Arm Holdings has made 2 diversity investments. Their most recent diversity investment was on Apr 11, 2019, when Ampere Computing raised.
Announced Date | Organization Name | Diversity Spotlight (US Headquarters Only) | Funding Round |
Apr 11, 2019 | Ampere Computing | Women Founded, Women Led | Venture Round - Ampere Computing |
Jun 1, 2016 | uSens | Women Founded | Series A - uSens |
Source: Crunchbase
Who are ARM Licensees?
ARM Licensees are companies with licenses from ARM to manufacture and integrate into their own System on chip (SoC) with other components.
ARM licenses IP to over 1,000 global partners (including Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft and other big names).
How many ARM licensees are there?
In 2021, there were 160 licensees. That's 15 less licensees than in 2020!
Year | Number of licensees |
2021 | 160 licensees |
2020 | 175 licensees |
2019 | 147 licensees |
2018 | 125 licensees |
2017 | 141 licensees |
2016 | 113 licensees |
2015 | 182 licensees |
We currently don't know any 100% confirmed information about ARM's licensees in 2022 or 2023, but as soon as data comes out, we'll publish it here.
Source: Strategyzer, Softbank, Softbank 2, Softbank 3
How many people work at ARM?
There are 6,950 employees at ARM (2022). With each new year, there are a few hundred more people starting to work for ARM.
Year | Number of Employees |
2022 | 6,950 employees |
2021 | 6,500 employees |
2020 | 6,250 employees |
2019 | 6,000 employees |
2018 | 5,987 employees |
2017 | 5,886 employees |
2016 | 4,852 employees |
2015 | 4,064 employees |
Note how the number of employees at ARM went up by over 2,000 in the course of 7 years (2015-2022).
Source: Softbank, ARM, The Guardian, Silicon, Zippia
Who founded ARM?
The founders of ARM are: Jamie Urquhart, Mike Muller, Tudor Brown, Lee Smith, John Biggs, Harry Oldham, Dave Howard, Pete Harrod, Harry Meekings, Al Thomas, Andy Merritt, and David Seal.
Source: Web Archive
Where is the ARM office located?
ARM global offices are located around the world.
Asia Pacific office locations
Regarding ARM' East-Asian offices: 3 of them are in China, 2 in India, 1 in Japan, 1 in South Korea, and 2 in Taiwan.
Country/Region | City | Address |
China | Shanghai | 11, Shanghai Business Park III No. 1016 Tianlin Road Minhang District Shanghai 200233 P.R. of China |
China | Beijing | Room 913-917, Ideal Plaza, 58 West Road, North 4th Ring Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100080 P.R. of China |
China | Shenzhen | Tower D, China Resources Land, No.19 Kefa Road, Nanshan District, Shenzhen |
India | Bangalore | Bagmane World Technology Center- SEZ, Citrine Block 5th and 6th Floor, Marathahalli Outer Ring Road, Doddanakundi Village, Mahadevapura, Bangalore -560048, Karnataka, India |
India | Noida | 8th Floor, Tower C, Logix Cyber Park, C28 & 29, Sector 62, Noida - 201309, Uttar Pradesh, India |
Japan | Yokohama | Shinyokohama Square Bldg. 17F 2-3-12 Shin-yokohama Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-shi Kanagawa 222-0033, Japan |
S. Korea | Seoul | 7th Floor KyungDong B/D 4, SunaeRo 46 BeonGil BunDangGu, SeongNamSi GyeonGiDo, Korea 13595 |
Taiwan | Hsinchu | No.5, Gongye E. 7th Rd., East Dist., Hsinchu City 300 30078 Taiwan (R.O.C.) |
Taiwan | Taipei | No. 55, Zouzi St., Neihu Dist., Taipei City, 114, Taiwan (R.O.C.) |
Source: ARM
Europe, Middle East, and Africa office locations
ARM has quite a lot of offices in the United Kingdom and a few others around Europe, Middle East and Africa. See all of them below:
Country | City | Address |
United Kingdom | Global Headquarters - Cambridge | Global Headquarters: 110 Fulbourn Road, Cambridge, CB1 9NJ, United Kingdom |
United Kingdom | Cambridge | CPC1 - Capital Park, Cambridge Road, Fulbourn, Cambridgeshire, CB21 5XE, United Kingdom |
France | Sophia Antipolis | 738 Avenue de Roumanille 06410 Biot - Sophia Antipolis, France |
Germany | Grasbrunn | Bretonischer Ring 16, D-85630 Grasbrunn, Germany |
Hungary | Budapest | Corvin Crystal Tower (5th floor), 1082 Budapest, Futó u. 43-45, Hungary |
Ireland | Galway | 2nd Floor, Lyrr Building 3, Mervue Business & Technology Park, Galway, H91 THP4 Ireland |
Israel | Ra'anana | 24 Zarhin Street, POB 4334, Ra'anana, 4366249, Israel |
Norway | Trondheim | Olav Tryggvassons gt. 39-41, 7011 Trondheim, Norway |
Slovenia | Sentjernej | Obrtna cesta 18, SL-8310 Sentjernej, Slovenia |
Sweden | Lund | Emdalavägen 6, SE-223 69 Lund, Sweden |
United Kingdom | Manchester | 11 Portland Street, Manchester, M1 3HU, United Kingdom |
United Kingdom | Sheffield | City Gate, 8 St Mary's Gate, Sheffield, S1 4LW, United Kingdom |
United Kingdom | Warwick | The Innovation Centre, Warwick Technology Park, Gallows Hill, Warwick, CV34 6UW, United Kingdom |
Source: ARM
North America office locations
At the moment, all of ARM's office locations in North America are within the United States.
Country/State | City | Address |
California | US Headquarters - San Jose | 120 Rose Orchard Way, San Jose, CA 95134-1358 |
Arizona | Chandler | 3075 West Ray Road, Suite 500, Chandler, AZ 85226 |
Massachusetts | Waltham | 100 5th Avenue, Suite 5010, Waltham, MA 02451 |
Texas | Austin | Encino Trace, 5707 Southwest Pkwy Bld 1 Suite 100, Austin, TX 78735 |
Texas | Richardson | 2140 Lake Park Blvd, Suite 301, Richardson, TX 75080 |
Source: ARM
How many chips ARM licensees shipments are there?
In December 2021, Arm’s licensees reported shipments of 7.8 billion ARM-based chips.
Below you can see a list of processors that were shipped worldwide throughout the 2015-2021 interval.
Breakdown by processor (million) | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Classic (Arm7, Arm9, Arm11) | 517 | 500 | 499 | 499 | - | - | - |
Cortex-A | 265 | 290 | 334 | 363 | - | - | - |
Cortex-R | 65 | 78 | 94 | 106 | - | - | - |
Cortex-M | 363 | 425 | 482 | 539 | 4,200 | 4,400 | - |
Mali | 138 | 149 | 168 | 187 | - | - | - |
Total (x 1,000,000) | 1,348 | 1,442 | 1,577 | 1,674 | 6,400 | 6,700 | 7,800 |
Source: Softbank, ARM, ARM 2, Statista
Where are ARM chips shipped? (Countries)
ARM chips are shipped all over the world. Most of them go to the United Kingdom (19.71%) and United States (15.78%).
Country | Percentage |
United Kingdom | 19.71% |
United States | 15.78% |
China | 12.65% |
India | 7.59% |
Taiwan | 3.59% |
Others | 40.69% |
Note how lots of chips go to China as well: 12.65%!
Source: Similar Web
ARM processor market share (semiconductors market)
In 2019, ARM's market processor share was 34% with a market value of $138 billion.
Markets | Market Share | Market Value |
Controller in IoT Devices | 90.00% | $4 billion |
Microcontrollers/SIM Cards | 25.00% | $10 billion |
Consumer Electronics | 42.00% | $15 billion |
Other chips | 38.00% | $11 billion |
All chips with processors | 34.00% | $138 billion |
Above you can see other markets, shares, and values within the seminconductors market.
Source: Softbank
ARM market share across key technology markets
Markets | Percentage of market share |
Mobile application processors | 90% |
Network equipment | 32% |
Data centre/ cloud | 5% |
IoT application processor | 90% |
In-vehicle infotainment and driver assistance | 75% |
Source: Statista
How does ARM make money?
ARM makes most of its money through the royalties it collects every time a company makes a chip using its design. And thanks to the company’s market dominance, over 160 billion chips have been made based on ARM designs as of last year.
In SoftBank’s Annual Report for 2021, it was stated that ARM’s technology royalties had grown 16.7% year-on-year.
ARM’s non-royalty revenue is taken from the licenses for processor designs to other semiconductor companies. These companies pay an up-front fee to gain access to the technology – and then a subsequent royalty on every chip that uses one of the designs.
Source: City Index
Who uses ARM chips?
Since ARM processors are a form of architecture, there is no one manufacturer for them. This technology is used by both Apple and Android on their mobile devices, whereas Intel is used on computers.
Also, ARM has long-powered portable devices, whereas Intel is a relative newcomer. ARM stands for Advanced RISC Machines. Qualcomm, Samsung and Nvidia all have combined their GPUs with Arm-licensed CPUs.
Source: Atatus
What are the series of ARM processors available?
Below you can see a list of all the ARM processors available on the market.
Product family | ARM architecture | Processor |
StrongARM(Digital) | ARMv4 | SA-110 |
SA-1100 | derivative of the SA-110 | 16 KB / 8 KB, MMU |
Faraday[74](Faraday Technology) | ARMv4 | FA510 |
FA526 | Up to 32 KB / 32 KB cache, MMU | 1.26 MIPS/MHz166-300 MHz |
FA626 | 8-stage pipeline | 32 KB / 32 KB cache, MMU |
ARMv5TE | FA606TE | 5-stage pipeline |
FA626TE | 8-stage pipeline | 32 KB / 32 KB cache, MMU |
FMP626TE | 8-stage pipeline, SMP | 1.43 MIPS/MHz500 MHz |
FA726TE | 13 stage pipeline, dual issue | 2.4 DMIPS/MHz1000 MHz |
XScale(Intel / Marvell) | ARMv5TE | XScale |
Bulverde | Wireless MMX, wireless SpeedStep added | 32 KB / 32 KB, MMU |
Monahans | Wireless MMX2 added | 32 KB / 32 KB L1, optional L2 cache up to 512 KB, MMU |
Sheeva(Marvell) | ARMv5 | Feroceon |
Jolteon | 5-8 stage pipeline, dual-issue | 32 KB / 32 KB, MMU |
PJ1 (Mohawk) | 5-8 stage pipeline, single-issue, Wireless MMX2 | 32 KB / 32 KB, MMU |
ARMv6 / ARMv7-A | PJ4 | 6-9 stage pipeline, dual-issue, Wireless MMX2, SMP |
Snapdragon(Qualcomm) | ARMv7-A | Scorpion |
Krait | 1, 2, or 4 cores. ARM / Thumb / Thumb-2 / DSP / SIMD / VFPv4 FPU / NEON (128-bit wide) | 4 KB / 4 KB L0, 16 KB / 16 KB L1, 512 KB L2 per core |
ARMv8-A | Kryo | 4 cores. |
Ax(Apple) | ARMv7-A | Swift |
ARMv8-A | Cyclone | 2 cores. ARM / Thumb / Thumb-2 / DSP / SIMD / VFPv4 FPU / NEON / TrustZone / AArch64. Out-of-order, superscalar. |
ARMv8-A | Typhoon | 2 or 3 cores. ARM / Thumb / Thumb-2 / DSP / SIMD / VFPv4 FPU / NEON / TrustZone / AArch64 |
ARMv8-A | Twister | 2 cores. ARM / Thumb / Thumb-2 / DSP / SIMD / VFPv4 FPU / NEON / TrustZone / AArch64 |
ARMv8-A | Hurricane and Zephyr | Hurricane: 2 or 3 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 6-decode, 6-issue, 9-wideZephyr: 2 or 3 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar. |
ARMv8.2-A | Monsoon and Mistral | Monsoon: 2 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 7-decode, ?-issue, 11-wideMistral: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar. Based on Swift. |
ARMv8.3-A | Vortex and Tempest | Vortex: 2 or 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 7-decode, ?-issue, 11-wideTempest: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 3-decode. Based on Swift. |
ARMv8.4-A | Lightning and Thunder | Lightning: 2 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 7-decode, ?-issue, 11-wideThunder: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar. |
ARMv8.5-A | Firestorm and Icestorm | Firestorm: 2 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 8-decode, ?-issue, 14-wideIcestorm: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 4-decode, ?-issue, 7-wide. |
ARMv8.5-A | Avalanche and Blizzard | Avalanche: 2 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 8-decode, ?-issue, 14-wideBlizzard: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 4-decode, ?-issue, 8-wide. |
ARMv8.5-A | Everest and Sawtooth | Everest: 2 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 8-decode, ?-issue, 14-wideSawtooth: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 4-decode, ?-issue, 8-wide. |
Mx(Apple) | ARMv8.5-A | Firestorm and Icestorm |
ARMv8.5-A | Avalanche and Blizzard | Avalanche: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 8-decode, ?-issue, 14-wideBlizzard: 4 cores. AArch64, out-of-order, superscalar, 4-decode, ?-issue, 8-wide. |
X-Gene(Applied Micro) | ARMv8-A | X-Gene |
Denver(Nvidia) | ARMv8-A | Denver |
Carmel(Nvidia) | ARMv8.2-A | Carmel |
ThunderX(Cavium) | ARMv8-A | ThunderX |
K12(AMD) | ARMv8-A | K12 |
Exynos(Samsung) | ARMv8-A | M1 ("Mongoose") |
ARMv8-A | M2 ("Mongoose") | 4 cores. AArch64, 4-wide, quad-issue, superscalar, out-of-order |
ARMv8-A | M3 ("Meerkat") | 4 cores, AArch64, 6-decode, 6-issue, 6-wide. superscalar, out-of-order |
ARMv8.2-A | M4 ("Cheetah") | 2 cores, AArch64, 6-decode, 6-issue, 6-wide. superscalar, out-of-order |
ARMv8.2-A | M5 ("Lion") | 2 cores, AArch64, 6-decode, 6-issue, 6-wide. superscalar, out-of-order |
Source: Intel, Anand Tech 1, Qualcomm, Anand Tech 2, Anand Tech 3, Anand Tech 4, PC World, Anand Tech 5, NVidia, Golem, WCCF Tech, Anand Tech 6, Anand Tech 7, Anand Tech 8, Anand Tech 9, ARM, ARM 2
What products does ARM make?
ARM's products are used in a lot of industries. For example, some of them are in the automotive safety industry, while others are used for mobiles and graphics.
See the full list of industries below.
IoT, ML and Embedded | C/C++ software development tools and operating systems for developing and optimizing on Arm Cortex-M IoT devices. | • Arm Virtual Hardware • Keil Studio Cloud • CMSIS • Keil MDK • Arm Embedded Compiler for Functional Safety • FuSa Runtime System (RTS) • ULINK Probes |
Automotive and Functional Safety | C/C++ software development tools, operating systems and safety qualification for developing and optimizing on any Arm CPU. | • Arm Development Studio • Arm Embedded Compiler for Functional Safety • FuSa Runtime System (RTS) • Certified C Library • Software Test libraries • Fixed Virtual Platforms • Arm DSTREAM Probes |
HPC | Cross-platform tools for developing and optimizing high-performance applications. Port and speed up the runtime of highly scalable software. | • Arm Forge (cross-platform) • Arm Performance Libraries • Arm C/C++ Compiler for Linux • Arm Fortran Compiler |
Mobile and Graphics | For the development and analysis of OpenGL ES, OpenCL and Vulkan graphics and compute software for Arm Mali GPU based systems. | • Arm Mobile Studio • OpenGL ES Emulator |
Source: ARM
Frequently Asked Questions about ARM
- What are ARM-based devices?
ARM processors are a family of central processing units (CPUs) based on a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture. ARM stands for Advanced RISC Machine.
- What is the latest ARM processor?
Armv9 – The Next Generation of Arm Architecture. The new Armv9 architecture will form the leading edge of the next 315 billion Arm-based chips.
- Do smartphones use ARM processors?
Arm CPUs are the leading smartphone processor IP on the market today. 95 per cent of premium smartphones are powered by Arm. Arm GPUs deliver first-rate performance and efficiency for your smartphone. Corelink Interconnect: CI-700 provides improved energy efficiency and system performance.
- What are ARM processor States?
In the ARM state, 16 general registers and one or two status registers are accessible at any one time. The registers available to the programmer in each mode, in the ARM state, are illustrated in Figure 2.
ARM is owned by Japanese conglomerate Softbank, whose portfolio also includes 400 other companies, such as office-sharing firm WeWork, Uber-competitor Grab and used-car company Auto1. The company has a total market cap of $76.61 billion as of March 2022, making it among the top 200 most valuable companies worldwide.
Source: City Index
- Who are ARM’s competitors?
ARM's main competitors are still the likes of IBM, Intel and AMD who also produce semiconductor chips. Although, ARM no longer has any significant competition within the smartphone chip space.
In terms of graphic processing units (GPUs), ARM faces competition from other giants like NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Intel. Although it is worth pointing out that for the most part, these other manufacturers have combined their proprietary GPUs with ARM-licensed designs.
Source: City Index
Once ARM has been listed, you’ll be able to trade its shares in the same way as any other stock on the market.
ARM is a British semiconductor chip company, whose primary business is designing processors and other chips, as well as systems and platforms. ARM doesn’t manufacture computer processors itself but sells licenses to other production firms. It describes itself as the R&D department for the entire semiconductor industry.
ARM was spun out of a computing company called Acorn Computers in 1990. At the time, the company was part of a joint venture with Apple, which would make chips for the US titan’s first handheld computer. But the venture flopped, leading Apple to sell its 43% stake in ARM – the proceeds of which it used to buy NeXT – an American technology company founded by Apple’s former-CEO Steve Jobs.
Shortly afterwards, Nokia started using ARM-based solutions, and by the end of the 90s, so had the rest of the mobile-phone manufacturing industry, including Apple. Upon his return to the company, Jobs started using ARM-based chip designs as the basis for the first iPod, iPhone and iPad.
Eventually, ARM was bought by SoftBank in 2016 for $24 billion – a 43% premium over ARM’s share price at the time. SoftBank had to take on more debt to finance the deal, which many questioned at the time, but its gamble was spot on as ARM chips soared in popularity.
ARM’s designs are now found in a huge range of devices, such as tablets, computers, smart TVs, smart homes, electric vehicles, drones, electronic passports, and even automatic streetlights. Its technology is found in around 95% of the world’s smartphones – including Apple, Android and Samsung – and 95% of chips designed in China.
ARM was valued at $80 billion in late 2021 amid the deal with NVIDIA. The value of the sale was directly tied to NVIDIA’s stock price as SoftBank would be taking a 10% stake in the US firm. The deal’s valuation was originally set at $40 billion, but during the global chip shortage, NVIDIA’s share price shot up and so did ARM’s valuation.
Although, the company’s valuation is unlikely to come close to this deal on public markets. ARM hasn’t disclosed its finances, but a report from Bloomberg expects the company to be worth between $25-35 billion. That’s based on its most recent revenue reports of $2.5 billion.