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> Most ARM CPUs are manufactured not by ARM itself but by Samsung, Qualcom, Texas Instruments and the like. Not quite. With the exception of Samsung, those com
by pjscott 16y ago
> Most ARM CPUs are manufactured not by ARM itself but by Samsung, Qualcom, Texas Instruments and the like.
Not quite. With the exception of Samsung, those companies design ARM-based systems-on-a-chip, but do not manufacture them. They take an ARM core, perhaps modify it, add on a bunch of other stuff like graphics accelerators, memory controllers, ethernet MACs, and so on. Then once the design checks out, they send it to another company, like TSMC, UMC, or GlobalFoundries, that actually does the manufacturing.
The capital costs of building each new generation of chip fabs have grown tremendously, which led to this centralization and commoditization of chip manufacturing. Intel is one of the few holdouts, and they're usually a bit ahead of everybody else, which is one of their big competitive advantages.
- DenisM 16y agoEh... I'm pretty sure TI has their own fabs. Do they not manufacture their own OMAPs over there and use someone else's fabs instead?
- copper 16y agoI thought they switched to TSMC for sub-45nm processes, because retooling (or building a new fab) is prohibitively expensive.
- pjscott 16y agoThey specialize in analog devices. The OMAPs are sent out to other companies. (I think it was TSMC, and maybe UMC, for the OMAPs.)
- DenisM 16y agoGood to know. I used to follow these things closely a few years ago, when I was trading semiconductor stocks in my personal "savings" stock portfolio. At some point I have realized the folly of my ways and decided to instead spend my time on a subject I actually have a chance of knowing well - writing mobile apps. :)