Nvidia Corp is using Arm Holdings PLC technology to develop chips that would challenge Intel Corp processors in PCs, ratcheting up competition between the two semiconductor makers, people familiar with the situation said.
Nvidia, whose artificial intelligence (AI) accelerator chips already dominate that market, is attempting to make central processing units (CPUs) for PCs, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.
The CPUs would support Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and go on sale as soon as 2025.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Intel’s main rival in PCs, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), is also working on Arm-based processors, according to the people. AMD currently licenses Intel’s technology.
It is not the first attempt to use Arm technology — common on smartphones — to crack the PC processor industry. A number of companies have made a run at traditional PC processors over the years with little impact.
Windows RT, which Microsoft announced in 2011 at CES, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, was designed to run on Arm designs. The first of Microsoft’s Surface devices was based on that operating system and used an Nvidia Tegra chip, but the those early models did not catch on with consumers.
Apple Inc has provided a more recent model for how to replace Intel technology. The company switched from using Intel processors in its Mac computers with in-house designs that are based on Arm’s standards. It has credited the change with boosting Mac sales.
Qualcomm Inc, the biggest maker of phone chips, is the only other maker of Arm-based chips for Windows-based PCs.
Representatives of AMD, Arm and Nvidia declined to comment.
ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控) yesterday launched its second testing facility in San Jose, California, to expand advanced chip testing capacity such as burn-in testing to satisfy customers’ rising engineering needs for emerging semiconductor applications, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). ISE Labs Inc, a fully owned subsidiary of ASE, would operate the advanced testing facility. When added to its first facility in nearby Fremont, ISE would double its available research-and-development lab and business space to 150,000m2 in hopes of boosting the US semiconductor supply chain, the company said in a statement. “As the semiconductor manufacturing supply chain reshoring
VALUE: TSMC’s market capitalization far exceeds the combined size of all the Latin American companies on MSCI Inc’s benchmark for emerging markets Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) US$420 billion equity rally this year would get a valuation test this week when it reports earnings, with analysts expecting the chipmaker to raise full-year sales forecasts. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker would probably report a 29 percent increase in second-quarter net income on Thursday, according to the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. More importantly, analysts from JPMorgan Chase & Co to Morgan Stanley expect it to also raise its full-year sales guidance, justifying another round of valuation expansion. Just like Nvidia Corp, TSMC has become a favorite artificial intelligence (AI)-bet for investors with
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: The previous shooting targeting a US president or major party candidate was the 1981 incident targeting then-US president Ronald Reagan Saturday’s shooting at former US president Donald Trump’s election rally raises his odds of winning back the White House, and trades betting on his victory would increase this coming week, investors said yesterday. Trump was shot in the ear during the rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday in what the authorities were treating as an assassination attempt. Trump, his face spattered with blood, pumped his fist moments after the attack, and his campaign said he was fine after the incident. Before the shooting, markets had reacted to the prospect of a Trump presidency by pushing the US dollar higher and positioning for a
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked memory chipmaker Micron Technology CEO Sanjay Mehrotra for his trust and continued investment in Taiwan, in a rare public meeting with a senior foreign tech executive. It is very unusual for Taiwan’s president to have publicized meetings with senior foreign tech executives, despite the nation being home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), whose chips help to power the surge in artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Lai thanked Mehrotra for “showing trust and support for Taiwan” in a video released by the Presidential Office. “I want to thank Micron for its long-term