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Tag: Nuvia

  • Arm Sues Qualcomm Over Its Nuvia Purchase

    Arm Sues Qualcomm Over Its Nuvia Purchase

    Qualcomm has run afoul of Arm Holdings, with the latter suing the former over the licenses it acquired with its Nuvia purchase.

    Arm is the world’s leading semiconductor design firm. Unlike Intel, AMD, Samsung, and others, Arm does not manufacture any chips. Instead, it designs semiconductors and licenses those designs to other companies, companies that use them to power some of the world’s most popular computing devices.

    Qualcomm has been working to improve the performance of its chips, especially targeting the gap between Apple’s Arm-based chips and its own. Qualcomm purchased Nuvia in an effort to close that gap, but Qualcomm is calling foul, issuing the following statement:

    Arm is filing this claim to protect Arm, our partners, and the unparalleled ecosystem we have built together. Arm and its partners have invested billions of dollars to create industry-leading intellectual property. Because Qualcomm attempted to transfer Nuvia licenses without Arm’s consent, which is a standard restriction under Arm’s license agreements, Nuvia’s licenses terminated in March 2022. Before and after that date, Arm made multiple good faith efforts to seek a resolution. In contrast, Qualcomm has breached the terms of the Arm license agreement by continuing development under the terminated licenses. Arm was left with no choice other than to bring this claim against Qualcomm and Nuvia to protect our IP, our business, and to ensure customers are able to access valid Arm-based products.

    At the heart of the issue is the designs Arm licensed to Nuvia, designs it says required authorization before they were transferred to Qualcomm. As a result, Arm wants a court-ordered injunction that would force Qualcomm to destroy any designs Nuvia developed that are based on Arm IP.

    For its part, Qualcomm says its existing agreement with Arm cover the designs Nuvia licensed.

    “Arm’s complaint ignores the fact that Qualcomm has broad, well-established license rights covering its custom-designed CPU’s, and we are confident those rights will be affirmed,” Ann Chaplin, General Counsel of Qualcomm, said in a statement to Reuters.

    If the court sides with Arm, it could prove a devastating setback to Qualcomm’s plans, especially since the company is one of the leading makers of Arm-based processors for Windows PCs.

  • Qualcomm Wants to Take on Apple’s M1

    Qualcomm Wants to Take on Apple’s M1

    Qualcomm has its sights set on Apple, with plans to take on the company’s M1 processor.

    Apple rocked the computing industry last year when it announced it was transitioning its Mac platform to its own custom silicon, the M1. The company previously relied on Intel to power its computers, but the M1 offered major advantages.

    Apple’s custom silicon is based on designs from Arm Holdings. As one of the original founders of Arm, however, Apple has the broadest license available, giving the company freedom to create truly custom chips. An evolution of the processors Apple has used in the iPhone and iPad for years, the M1 has unrivaled energy use, combined with stellar performance that rivals and exceeds Intel’s best offerings.

    The move has put tremendous pressure on PC makers to deliver a competitive product. Similarly, Microsoft has been migrating Windows to Arm processors to help pave the way for adoption by the PC industry.

    Qualcomm’s new CEO believes his company may have the answer to Apple. The company already creates Arm-based chips, much like Apple does, but Cristiano Amon told Reuters he believes the company needs its own line of custom silicon to help his customers better compete with Cupertino.

    Amon’s efforts are aided by a number of former Apple engineers, including ones who worked on Apple’s chip, that now work for Qualcomm. The engineers came onboard when Qualcomm purchased chip startup Nuvia, a company that was founded by ex-Apple employees.

    If Qualcomm is able to deliver on Amon’s vision, it could find itself in a strong position in the PC industry, building on its already enviable position in the smartphone market.

  • Qualcomm Finalizes Acquisition of NUVIA

    Qualcomm Finalizes Acquisition of NUVIA

    Qualcomm has completed its acquisition of NUVIA, in a bid to challenge Apple’s custom silicon.

    Arm-based processors power the majority of smartphones and tablets, with Apple and Qualcomm both making their own line of chips. Unfortunately for Qualcomm, Apple’s custom silicon continues to be the fastest in the industry — often by a wide margin.

    Qualcomm is looking to close that gap with its acquisition of NUVIA, a CPU and technology design firm. One of its founders, Gerard Williams III, was lead architect at Apple for over a decade, working on all of Apple’s in-house chips up to the A13.

    “The world-class NUVIA team enhances our CPU roadmap, extending Qualcomm’s leading technology position with the Windows, Android and Chrome ecosystems,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO-Elect, Qualcomm Incorporated. “The broad support of this acquisition from across industries validates the opportunity we have to provide differentiated products with leading CPU performance and power efficiency, as on-demand computing increases in the 5G era.”

    The addition of NUVIA should provide a major boost to Qualcomm’s efforts at a time when mobile computing and 5G technologies are more important than ever.

  • Qualcomm Purchasing Chip Company Nuvia

    Qualcomm Purchasing Chip Company Nuvia

    Qualcomm has announced it is acquiring Nuvia, a chip company formed by ex-Apple employees, for $1.4 billion.

    Qualcomm is the maker of a popular line of processors used in phones and tablets. While Qualcomm’s chips are based on Arm designs, like Apple’s custom silicon, Apple consistently takes top marks in performance benchmarks. It appears Qualcomm’s planned acquisition of Nuvia may be an effort to change that.

    Nuvia primarily designs chips for servers, but the company appears to have much wider ambitions. Nuvia’s website speaks of “an opportunity to reimagine silicon design to create a new class of processor that delivers the step-function performance and energy efficiency improvements needed to power the next era of computing.” These plans are likely at the heart of Qualcomm’s interest.

    “5G, the convergence of computing and mobile architectures, and the expansion of mobile technologies into other industries are significant opportunities for Qualcomm,” said Cristiano Amon, President and CEO-Elect, Qualcomm Incorporated. “The NUVIA team are proven innovators, and like Qualcomm, have a strong heritage in creating leading technology and products. I am very excited to have them join our team. Together, we are very well positioned to redefine computing and enable our ecosystem of partners to drive innovation and deliver a new class of products and experiences for the 5G era.”

    “Creating high performance, low-power processors and highly integrated, complex SoCs are part of our DNA,” said Jim Thompson, Chief Technology Officer of Qualcomm. “Adding NUVIA’s deep understanding of high-performance design and integrating NUVIA CPUs with Snapdragon – together with our industry-leading graphics and AI – will take computing performance to a new level and drive new capabilities for products that serve multiple industries.”

    With Apple’s recent switch to its own custom silicon, the race is on to provide high performance processor solutions to the industry, solutions that go beyond what Intel can offer. Qualcomm acquisition of Nuvia is a big step in that direction.