ARM Celebrates Ten Years At The Heart Of Mobile Phones

Pioneering business model revolutionized the mobile industry

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Feb. 11, 2008 – ARM today celebrated a major milestone at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona –10 years since the launch of the iconic ARM Powered® Nokia 6110, the first mass-market phone based on the ARM7TDMI® processor. In 1997, ARM silicon Partners shipped fewer than 10 million chips; in 2007, they shipped nearly three billion, with an average of 1.7 ARM Powered chips per mobile phone. The diversity of today’s mobile devices is built on the creativity of the 400-plus members of the ARM® Connected Community, which create new, cost-effective solutions for the industry that incorporate the wide range of ARM processors and SoC intellectual property.

ARM’s heritage in mobile devices goes back to 1990 with the development of the Apple Newton, which arguably started the market for Personal Digital Assistants. However, it was the widespread adoption of ARM processors in mobile phones over the last 10 years that has helped ARM’s silicon Partners sell 7 billion chips into the mobile market, out of the 10 billion cumulative ARM Powered SoCs. 

ARM has been able to revolutionize the mobile industry through its pioneering business model. The company chose to license its technology to silicon Partners and charge a small royalty on ARM Powered processors shipped. OEMs saw the value in being able to source chips from multiple vendors with software compatibility. Today, the number of ARM processor-based devices shipped is roughly 10 times greater than the volume of x86 chips that go into PCs.

“If you bought a GSM phone in 1998, it could have been the Nokia 6110,” said Rob Coombs, director of mobile solutions at ARM. “At the time, phones were for talking or texting, with simple black and white displays and powered by a small, innovative, low-power processor from ARM. Over the past 10 years, ARM has become the standard architecture for mobile devices, and the capabilities of mobile devices have grown in step with the ARM processor roadmap. Today you can choose an ARM11™ family-based phone that can play YouTube videos, send and receive e-mail or run a 3D game with console-type quality. ARM supplies the engines, software and tools that makes this possible.”

“ARM is a force of nature; it powers the mobile world” said Tony Massimini, chief of technology, Semico Research. “Whether you are developing a Mobile Internet Device or a low-cost phone, the compute engine of choice is designed by ARM.”

ARM will be celebrating its 10 years in mass-market mobile devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, where it will be demonstrating the next-generation ARM Cortex™ processors and Mali™ graphics technology  that will power the devices of 2009.

About ARM
ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless, networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging, automotive, security and storage devices. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

Contact Arm Ltd Fill out this form for contacting a Arm Ltd representative. Your Name: Your E-mail address: Your Company address: Your Phone Number: Write your message: