News that Apple has no intention of acquiring Arm

It is reported that Arm, the world's largest semiconductor design company under the umbrella of the SoftBank Group, will be sold. Since the ARM architecture developed by Arm is also adopted by Apple, it was rumored in part that 'Apple may embark on acquisition of Arm?', but Bloomberg said, 'Apple will acquire Arm. Is not interested.'

SoftBank's Chip Company Arm Said to Attract Nvidia Interest-Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-22/softbank-s-chip-company-arm-is-said-to-attract-nvidia-interest

Apple not interested in takeover of Arm Holdings, report claims | Appleinsider
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/07/22/nvidia-shows-takeover-interest-in-arm-holdings-report-claims

SoftBank Group acquired Arm in 2016. The purchase price amounted to about 3.3 trillion yen. At the time of the acquisition, Masayoshi Son of the group said, 'It is reasonable as a long-term strategy because the semiconductor of Arm design to be incorporated into various devices is expected to expand in the age of Internet of Things (IoT).' It's 3 trillion yen.'

However, according to information independently obtained from The Wall Street Journal, SoftBank Group is considering multiple options, including a full or partial sale of Arm or a public offering (IPO). However, it is said that the sale consideration is in the initial stage of the examination.

Softbank considers selling Arm-GIGAZINE

by MIKI Yoshihito

Apple has adopted the ARM architecture in the A series SoC installed in the iPhone and iPad, and it is expected that the ARM architecture will also be adopted in the proprietary processor ' Apple Silicon ' for Mac announced in WWDC 2020. I am.

Apple announces ``Apple Silicon'' migrating to proprietary processor on Mac, iPhone & iPad application is also available on Mac-GIGAZINE

According to Bloomberg's latest report, Apple was told by Softbank Group about the acquisition of Arm, but the company clearly responded that it was 'not interested in the acquisition'. According to sources, Apple has determined that 'Arm's license provision business is not well suited to the company's business structure.' In addition, given that Arm is licensing Apple's competitors, it seems that Apple's decision to acquire Arm is not a realistic idea.

Meanwhile, NVIDIA, which manufactures semiconductors such as graphics cards, is interested in acquiring Arm, Bloomberg reports. In addition, sources say SoftBank Group may strengthen its move towards a public offering if it fails to negotiate with NVIDIA about the sale of Arm.

The sale of Arm could be the biggest deal ever in the chip industry to date, but it's also likely to cause scrutiny of antitrust laws. As such, companies that are considering acquiring Arm must also prove that they will continue to license ARM architecture to others.