1/ Qualcomm says it will acquire Nuvia, a chip startup founded by former Apple chip execs, for ~$1.4 billion. Link here: reuters.com/article/us-qua…
2/ This move is much more important for Qualcomm than the dollar figures suggest. First, this gets Qualcomm back into the custom CPU core game in a big way. Qualcomm once made custom cores but in recent years has mostly relied on cores directly licensed from Arm.
3/ Apple has done significant custom core work over the past decade that is showing up in its performance with the M1 chip in Macs but will really become obvious when its next round of chips hit this year.
4/ Arm X1 notwithstanding, it was always hard to see how Qualcomm would hit back performance-wise while being bound to Arm's core roadmap. Nuvia's CPU core design could help Qualcomm get back in the game.
5/ The move also makes it easier - not trivial at all, but easier - for a fuller Qualcomm move away from Arm. Changing ISAs (for RISC-V, etc) is never easy but is less of a lift if you control the core designs tip to tail.
6/ Qualcomm having more autonomy from Arm matters now when Arm is being bought by Nvidia. Nearly everyone I talk to in the industry is nervous about being lashed to Arm's roadmap once it becomes owned by a current or potential competitor.
7/7 Lastly, it's fascinating that Qualcomm says nothing about server here. That's the only class of chip Nuvia has ever talked about publicly, and Qualcomm's efforts there withered amid cost cutting several years ago - much to the consternation of several partners.
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