News
ARM reaches 10 billion processor milestone
31 January 2008
UK embedded microprocessor specialist ARM has announced that the
total number of processors shipped by its partners has exceeded ten
billion. The company developed its first embeddable RISC core, the ARM6
processor, in 1991, and its semiconductor partners currently ship almost
three billion ARM powered processors each year.
"ARM Partners have now shipped more than one processor for every
single person on the planet" said Warren East, CEO, ARM. "Ten billion
ARM processors in use mark an enormous milestone for ARM, but also
demonstrate the growth in adoption of the ARM processor architecture by
the vast majority of major electronics companies and across the broadest
range of applications."
ARM has grown to become the largest microprocessor IP company in the
world, and the ARM processor portfolio covers every area of
microprocessor applications, from very low-cost embedded
microcontrollers, up to very high-performance multicore processors for
demanding networking, mobile and consumer entertainment applications.
As a result, ARM processors can be found in products such as hearing
aids and medical monitors, a home telehealth gateway, even a toilet —
Japanese of course — and a wide range of consumer items, including the
LG Viewty, Nokia N95 and Sony Ericsson P1i smart phones; the iPhone and
the iPod; Garmin, Navman and Tom Tom portable navigation systems; Kodak
still cameras; Sony video cameras; and the Nintendo DS handheld gaming
device, up to Toshiba HD digital televisions; hard disk drives from
Samsung and Seagate; automotive braking systems from Bosch; HP printers
and wireless routers from Linksys and Netgear.
"ARM deserves congratulations for successfully executing the business
model of licensing microprocessor technology as intellectual property,"
said Tom R. Halfhill, senior analyst for In-Stat's Microprocessor Report
newsletter. "Although ARM does not actually make or sell microprocessor
chips, there are now ten billion ARM microprocessors in the world — all
implemented in silicon by ARM Partners. ARM was an early pioneer of this
revolutionary business model, and it has given ARM a long reach in the
digital world."
"ARM's success is a result of its processor architecture being
licensed to nearly every semiconductor company in the world," said Tom
Starnes of analyst firm Objective Analysis. "With each vendor using ARM
processors to address its own focus markets, the number of ARM
technology-based chips going out the door multiplies beyond what a
single vendor could drive. Added to the volume of mobile phones with ARM
technology inside and untapped markets like microcontrollers just
getting started, these numbers will continue to expand. At this rate,
within a year we will find that every man, woman, and child on this
planet will have the use of an average of two ARM processors — and a lot
of cool electronic devices too."
"I have watched with great interest the growth of the ARM
architecture since its early days as a proprietary CPU for a small
aspiring PC company. From its beginning the ARM CPU was small and
efficient. It was clearly a CPU ahead of its time," said Tony Massimini,
chief of technology, Semico Research Corp.
"It took a lot of hard work and dedication to find the right home for
ARM technology. The CPU's success is due as much to the tools and
ecosystem that have been developed as it owes to the evolution of its
architecture. Even more significant to me than the sheer volume of parts
that have shipped is the fact that ARM has established a fundamental
business model within the semiconductor industry — licensing
intellectual property. The IP model has been so successful for ARM that
it has inspired others to emulate the company."
"Over the past decade, the use of embedded microprocessor cores has
moved from cutting edge technology to a mainstream capability found in
an ever-increasing percentage of new designs," said Jordan Selburn,
principal analyst for Semiconductor Design Services, iSuppli. "Billions
of ASSPs and ASICs built around RISC processor cores are shipping each
year and we forecast that this number will continue to grow, approaching
5 billion per year by 2011."
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