Qualcomm Opposes Nvidia's Acquisition of Arm as Deal Comes Under Increasing Scrutiny

[falkon-engine]

Qualcomm the teapot monopolist calling the kettle black. That's rich. Where was Qualcomm's concern for 'competition' when it was fleecing Apple in regards to modem licensing ??

All of that being said, I think the nVidia+Arm deal is dead. ARM is too essential to the ecosystem to allow any one of these chip companies to snap it up... and potentially extract monopoly rents for licensing, or worse, cut off licensing altogether. A consortium might be the best path forward.

But on the flip side, Intel, and to a lesser extent AMD, exclusively own the rights to the x86 ISA, and that has worked out okay for the industry... and Intel has never been hit with anti-trust concerns over its refusal to openly license x86 to all. And nVidia has stated that it doesn't intend to cut off ARM licensing... so why shouldn't nVidia be able to own ARM?

All a very interesting conversation.

 

[luvbug]

My understanding was that Apple has had a perpetual license for the ARM tech it uses since they first went into AS. Am I mistaken? If not, what's the issue for Apple? I can see issues for others that didn't acquire the kind of license Apple has, and I agree that's a problem. A global consortium of all the major tech players should buy it and craft fair-use licenses available to all comers, it seems to me.

 

[Td1970]

My last post on this but Qualcomm is NOT much more than a patent troll. The fact they are looking for Govt. handouts, and want to block this simply demonstrate a company with no idea what to do and how to do it except trough lawsuits and - imagine that - buying other technology companies. Qualcomm is a low point for US tech. - I'll add this - so many of these companies don't care about 'law'. They are simply putting their interest above ACTUAL competition (looking at you Epic). They want the preferred treatment, they want protection - except when it interferes with their quarterly results. So take all this with a very large sized chunk of salt. It's the age old 'we want a free market' unless we can do better without it...

Don’t all companies do this.

 

[cmaier]

wish people were more outraged when Disney bought Fox or when Disney bought abc or Facebook bought Instagram or when Amazon bought Whole Foods or when google ....became google!

Disney buying fox was worth it to merge back together the vast majority of Marvell’s universe. There is an anti-trust exemption for awesomeness.

 

[cmaier]

My understanding was that Apple has had a perpetual license for the ARM tech it uses since they first went into AS. Am I mistaken? If not, what's the issue for Apple? I can see issues for others that didn't acquire the kind of license Apple has, and I agree that's a problem. A global consortium of all the major tech players should buy it and craft fair-use licenses available to all comers, it seems to me.

There’s no issue for apple at all. They don’t need ANYTHING from Arm at this point. If they wanted to switch all “apple silicon” to RISC-V or Mips or SPARC or something they invent themselves they could do so and hardly anyone would know the difference.

 

[itsmeaustend]

This acquisition needs to be halted immediately. This would be awful for the tech industry. I hope Qualcomm is successful in their endeavour.

 

[jprmercado]

This should be interesting. I’m sure Apple is watching this conflict between its frenemies.

My understanding was that Apple has had a perpetual license for the ARM tech it uses since they first went into AS. Am I mistaken? If not, what's the issue for Apple? I can see issues for others that didn't acquire the kind of license Apple has, and I agree that's a problem. A global consortium of all the major tech players should buy it and craft fair-use licenses available to all comers, it seems to me.

Yes, I do believe Apple does have a perpetual license for ARM, so this acquisition—if it happens—shouldn’t negatively affect Apple.

I agree with the consortium idea. Makes sense since the ARM instruction set is employed by a bunch of tech companies for the their products.

 

[sw1tcher]

Nice! That’s awesome.

What exactly is "awesome" about this?

Everything is awesome.

 

[cmaier]

This should be interesting. I’m sure Apple is watching this conflict between its frenemies.



Yes, I do believe Apple does have a perpetual license for ARM, so this acquisition—if it happens—shouldn’t negatively affect Apple.

I agree with the consortium idea. Makes sense since the ARM instruction set is employed by a bunch of tech companies for the their products.

Why would tech companies spend money to contribute to the purchase of Arm for a consortium, only to license it to their competitors at a discount?

 

[haunebu]

This should be interesting. I’m sure Apple is watching this conflict between its frenemies.



Yes, I do believe Apple does have a perpetual license for ARM, so this acquisition—if it happens—shouldn’t negatively affect Apple.

I agree with the consortium idea. Makes sense since the ARM instruction set is employed by a bunch of tech companies for the their products.

Apple has an architecture license, yes, but there's still a downstream flow of technology from ARM to Apple (and all licensees) that would be affected if Nvidia acquired ARM.

 

[Zanc]

a bit surprising, though given recent developments in the semiconductor space I expect that the EU will not allow this to go through anyway ...
Edit: in wake of Brexit, not sure about the EU involvement in this but the British regulators will object

Not sure they have much power to object. It’s already a foreign owned company and the UK government will not want to upset the US, because they are desperate for a trade deal.

 

[AngerDanger]

That doesn't explain why you think this story is awesome.

It's SO out of character to see this poster make noncommittal positive remarks almost immediately after an article is published, isn't it?! Like, remarks you could paste into any other article and wouldn't seem more out of context than they were before.

 

[Rigby]

has NVIDIA publicly stated what their intention is? I haven't seen anything but might have missed it ...

They have said that they will not change the licensing model. Of course you have to ask what benefit they are expecting from spending a huge amount of money to acquire ARM. At the very least Nvidia's needs would be prioritized, potentially to the detriment of other licensees. The beauty of ARM's business model was always that they were completely driven their licensees' needs and feedback. That would no longer be the case if they were part of Nvidia.

 

[rafark]

a bit surprising, though given recent developments in the semiconductor space I expect that the EU will not allow this to go through anyway ...
Edit: in wake of Brexit, not sure about the EU involvement in this but the British regulators will object

Hmm, isn’t Nvidia an American company? The acquisition would be between a Japanese company and an American company. What does the eu have to do here?

 

[progx]

SoftBank approached Apple first, then they declined very quickly because they don't want to share their designs. What I find weird about this situation, NVIDIA popped right up after Apple said no. I understand Apple and NVIDIA aren't exactly cozy with each other.

My personal belief is Apple told SoftBank to approach NVIDIA as a buyer for ARM. Timing seemed to be everything, NVIDIA didn't seem to want to jump on it right away until Apple was out. This is my opinion from the outside looking in, I have no knowledge that ANY OF THIS REALLY HAPPENED.

 

[IG88]

My understanding was that Apple has had a perpetual license for the ARM tech it uses since they first went into AS. Am I mistaken? If not, what's the issue for Apple? I can see issues for others that didn't acquire the kind of license Apple has, and I agree that's a problem. A global consortium of all the major tech players should buy it and craft fair-use licenses available to all comers, it seems to me.

What's to stop NVidia from forking the instruction set?

Remember Microsoft's "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish" behavior back in their heyday?

 

[cmaier]

Apple has an architecture license, yes, but there's still a downstream flow of technology from ARM to Apple (and all licensees) that would be affected if Nvidia acquired ARM.

What is that flow?

 

[Rigby]

Hmm, isn’t Nvidia an American company? The acquisition would be between a Japanese company and an American company. What does the eu have to do here?

ARM is a British company. And if Nvidia wants to do business in the huge EU market, they are subject to EU regulation.

 

[Solomani]

I think it is a good idea to question this sale. As @RogueWarrior65 said, Qualcomm's tech hands may be dirty with hypocrisy. As such, their motive may not be entirely for the good of all.

Arm technology and patents/licenses is like the Dune Spice. Whomever controls the spice, controls the Universe.

 

[jz0309]

They have said that they will not change the licensing model. Of course you have to ask what benefit they are expecting from spending a huge amount of money to acquire ARM. At the very least Nvidia's needs would be prioritized, potentially to the detriment of other licensees. The beauty of ARM's business model was always that they were completely driven their licensees' needs and feedback. That would no longer be the case if they were part of Nvidia.

Thanks, yea, that was the extent of what I heard, and I agree with the rest of your comment too

 

[jz0309]

Hmm, isn’t Nvidia an American company? The acquisition would be between a Japanese company and an American company. What does the eu have to do here?

yes, but they, esp NVIDIA are doing business in Europe, so EU involvement is clear. And if you read the article, QCOM even informed the Chinese regulators so they have a say as well ...

 

[rafark]

if Nvidia wants to do business in the huge EU market, they are subject to EU regulation

Yeah, but afaik these two companies don’t need the approval/permission of the EU to make a deal right? As I understand it, an American company would be buying a Japanese company. China is a market as big if not bigger than Europe. Will these two companies need permission from China as well?

 

[Pbrutto]

Can't wait to see some RTX 30 series GPUs in Macs...

I can’t wait for the privilege to buy one (the card that is)

 

[rafark]

yes, but they, esp NVIDIA are doing business in Europe, so EU involvement is clear. And if you read the article, QCOM even informed the Chinese regulators so they have a say as well ...

I mean, I don’t know. This is why I’m asking. But as far as I understand, neither the European union or China (or any other state or region) has the jurisdiction to prevent this deal from happening, right? Only the US and Japan can legally prevent this purchase from happening?

 

[Rigby]

Yeah, but afaik these two companies don’t need the approval/permission of the EU to make a deal right?

If they want to continue doing business in the EU they do need regulatory approval. Same for China.

As I understand it, an American company would be buying a Japanese company.

No, ARM is a British company. There are ongoing reviews of the proposed acquisition in both the UK and the EU.