In a bid to further strengthen its hold in the industry, Intel has officially announced that third-party companies can now use its 10-nanometer production lines to create ARM-based chips for smartphones.
Intel has inked a new deal with ARM, its chief competitor in the microprocessor market, to “accelerate the development and implementation of ARM SoCs on Intel’s 10nm process”. Thanks to the deal, Intel customers will now get access to world-class physical IP and ARM implementation solutions.
“ARM is a leader in processor and physical design, and Intel Custom Foundry is a leading integrated device manufacturer. This combination is a win-win for customers. It reinforces an ARM tenet throughout our 25-year history: To continuously enable choice and innovation inside the ARM ecosystem,” ARM said in a blog post.
While ARM has been developing the IP for microprocessors and other chips and licensing it to third parties for production, Intel has produced its own chips with no modified-IP options.
Reportedly, LG Electronics will be Intel’s new customer for its 10-nanometer internally developed chips. The news will sure disappoint folks at Qualcomm, which has been a leading supplier for LG.
Manufacturers of ARM-based processors, Samsung, GlobalFoundries and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will also closely follow the development. The consumer electronics giant Apple relies on Samsung and TMSC to manufacture its chips.
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