ARM Limited
1311066
221476714
2008-06-24T17:50:07Z
71.255.70.167
/* Processors */ removed outdated reference.
{{Infobox Company
| company_name = ARM Limited
| company_logo = [[Image:ARM logo.gif|ARM Logo]]
| company_type = [[Public company|Public]] ({{lse|ARM}}, {{nasdaq|ARMH}})
| foundation = [[1990]]
| location = [[Cambridge]], [[England]], [[UK]]
| key_people = Sir [[Robin Saxby]], [[Warren East]], [[Tim Score]]
| industry = [[RISC]] [[Microprocessor]]s
| products = Processor IP; Physical IP
| revenue = ~GB£259 million/year (2007, US GAAP)
| operating_income = ~GB£86.7 million/year (2007, US GAAP Normalized)
| net_income = ~GB£36.8 million/year
| num_employees = 1,728 ([[December 31]] [[2007]])
| homepage = [http://www.arm.com www.arm.com]
}}
[[Image:ARM-Cambridge.jpg|thumb|right|The entrance to ARM's headquarters in Cherry Hinton, [[Cambridge]], [[England]] ({{coor d|52.18177|N|0.17824|E|type:landmark|region:GB}}) ]]
'''ARM Limited''' ({{lse|ARM}}, {{nasdaq|ARMH}}) is a technology company headquartered in [[Cambridge]], [[England]], [[UK]]. Founded in [[1990]], the company is best known for its [[processors]], although it also designs, licenses and sells [[software development tools]] under the [[RealView]] and [[KEIL]] brands, [[Platform (computing)|systems and platforms]], [[system-on-a-chip]] infrastructure and [[software]]. ARM is listed under its associated [[holding company]] ('''ARM Holdings PLC''') on the [[London Stock Exchange]] and [[NASDAQ]]. It is probably the best-known of the [[Silicon Fen]] companies.
The company was founded as a joint venture between [[Acorn Computers]], [[Apple Computer]] and [[VLSI Technology]] (as Advanced RISC Machines), intended to further the development of the [[ARM architecture|Acorn RISC Machine]]'s [[RISC]] chip, which was originally used in the [[Acorn Archimedes]] and is now the processing core for many custom [[application-specific integrated circuit]]s (ASICs). It has since expanded and now has offices and design centres <!--not centers please as this is a British English article--> across the world, including [[Sunnyvale, California]]; [[Austin, Texas]]; [[Olympia, Washington]]; [[Trondheim|Trondheim, Norway]]; [[Sophia Antipolis|Sophia Antipolis, France]]; [[Munich|Munich, Germany]]; [[Leuven, Belgium]]; [[Taiwan]]; [[Yokohama|Shin Yokohama, Japan]]; [[China]]; and [[India]]<ref>[http://www.arm.com/contact_us/offices.html ARM offices], ARM company website, accessed [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>.
The company is considered to be [[Market dominance|market dominant]] in the field of [[mobile phone]] chips.<ref>[http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/NEA/archive/200204/177680/ [Cover Story] ARM CPU Core Dominates Mobile Market - Nikkei Electronics Asia - Tech-On!<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Processors==
A characteristic feature of ARM processors is their low [[electric power]] consumption, which makes them particularly suitable for use in portable devices<ref>[http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/ ARM Processor Overview], ARM company website, accessed [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>. In fact, almost all modern [[mobile phone]]s and [[personal digital assistant]]s contain ARM [[Central processing unit|CPU]]s, making them the most widely-used 32-bit microprocessor family in the world. Today ARMs account for over 75% of all 32-bit embedded CPUs.<ref>http://www.arm.com/miscPDFs/3823.pdf</ref>
ARM processors are used as the main CPU for most [[mobile phone]]s, including those manufactured by [[Nokia]], [[Sony Ericsson]] and [[Samsung]]<ref>[http://www.symbian.com/partner/platinum/directory/arm.html "ARM is the market-leading architecture in mobile devices worldwide, with 80% of all handsets containing at least one ARM core."], [[Symbian]] website, accessed [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>; many [[personal digital assistant]]s and [[handheld]]s, like the [[Apple Computer|Apple]] [[iPod]] & [[iPhone]] <ref>[http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/11/iphone-powered-by-samsung-not-intel/ iPhone powered by Samsung, not Intel?], [[engadget]], [[January 11]] [[2007]]</ref>, [[Nintendo]] [[Game Boy Advance]] and [[Nintendo DS]], [[Gamepark]] [[GP32]], and [[Gamepark Holdings]] [[GP2X]]; as well as many other applications, including [[GPS]], [[digital camera]]s, [[digital television]]s, [[Computer networking|network]] devices and [[Hard drive|storage]].
Unlike other microprocessor corporations such as [[AMD]], [[Intel]], [[Freescale]] (formerly [[Motorola]]) and [[Renesas]] (formerly [[Hitachi, Ltd.|Hitachi]] and [[Mitsubishi_Electric_Corporation|Mitsubishi]])<ref>[http://www.arm.com/products/licensing/licencees.html Processor Licensees], ARM company website, accessed [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>, ARM only licenses its technology as [[intellectual property]] (IP), rather than manufacturing its own CPUs. Thus, there are a few dozen companies making processors based on ARM's designs. [[Intel]], [[Freescale]] and [[Renesas]] have all licensed ARM technology. In [[2007]], 2.9 billion chips based on an ARM design were manufactured<ref>[http://www.arm.com/news/19813.html "For the reported year, ARM partners shipped just under 3 billion units (2.9bn)"], ARM press release, [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>.
==History==
Along the way, ARM has grown both through internal financing and [[acquisition]]s<ref>[http://www.arm.com/aboutarm/milestones.html ARM milestones], ARM company website, accessed [[February 5]] [[2008]]</ref>.
*in 1990 ARM was founded as Advanced RISC Machines Ltd as a joint venture between [[Acorn Computers]], [[Apple Computer]] and [[VLSI Technology]].
*In 1993 First profitable year
*In 1994 Silicon Valley and Tokyo offices open
*In 1998 Advanced RISC Machines Ltd name is changed to ARM Ltd, 50 million cores a year shipped.
*In 1998 ARM IPO on both LSE & NASDAQ
*In 1999 ARM acquired Micrologic Solutions, a software consulting company based in [[Cambridge, UK]]
*In 2000 ARM acquired [[Allant Software]], a developer of [[debugging]] software; Infinite Designs, a design company based in [[Sheffield|Sheffield, UK]] and EuroMIPS a smart card design house in [[Sophia Antipolis. France]]
*In 2001, ARM acquired the engineering team of Noral Micrologics, a debug hardware and software company based in [[Blackburn|Blackburn, UK]].
*In 2002, Artisan Components acquired NurLogic Design a PHY and analogue mixed signal company based in [[San Diego, CA]]. China office is opened.
*In 2003, ARM acquired [[Adelante Technologies]] of Belgium, creating its [[OptimoDE]] data engines business, a form of lightweight [[Digital Signal Processing|DSP]] engine.
*In 2004, ARM acquired [[Axys Design Automation]], a developer of [[Electronic system level|ESL]] design tools; and [[Artisan Components]], a designer of ''Physical IP'' ([[standard cell]] libraries, [[Memory Compilers]], [[PHY]]s etc.), the building blocks of [[integrated circuits]].
*In 2005, ARM acquired [[KEIL Software]], a leading developer of [[software development tools]] for the [[microcontroller]] market, including [[8051]] and [[C16x]] platforms [http://www.microcontroller.com/news/arm_keil.asp]. ARM also acquired the engineering team of [[PowerEscape]].
*In 2006, ARM acquired [[Falanx]], a developer of [[Graphics processing unit|3D graphics accelerators]], and [[SOISIC]], who specialise in developing [[Silicon on insulator|silicon-on-insulator]] physical IP.
==Company name==
The acronym ARM originally stood for [[Acorn Computers|Acorn]] [[RISC]] Machine. The company name ARM stands for Advanced [[RISC]] Machines. This name was changed, around the time of the [[IPO]], to "ARM Holdings", since it was felt the term RISC, which indicates a type of [[CPU]] design, being phonetically identical to risk, would deter people unfamiliar with computers.
==See also==
*[[ARM architecture]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.arm.com Official site]
*[http://www.arm.com/aboutarm/ About ARM from the company website]
*[http://www.gnuarm.org Useful information regarding GNU tools for ARM]
*[http://www.timesys.com/processor/arm.htm Embedded Linux for ARM processors]
*[http://www.devicetools.com/Architecture/ARM/index.html Tools and Resources for ARM]
*[http://www.cambridgenetwork.co.uk/directory/orgprofile/jobs/default.aspx?objid=4687 ARM is a Founder Member of the Cambridge Network and regularly posts job vacancies in the Cambridge Region here]
{{FTSE 250 Index constituents}}
[[Category:Electronics companies]]
[[Category:Computer companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Acorn Computers]]
[[Category:Companies based in Cambridgeshire]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:ARM architecture]] <!-- included in cat since company founded to support that arch. -->
[[de:ARM Limited]]
[[fr:Advanced RISC Machines]]
[[ko:ARM 유한회사]]
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[[zh:安謀國際科技]]