In mid-September 2020, Nvidia announced the purchase of ARM for $40 billion. The tech deal generated strong uncertainty in the semiconductor industry. Now some of the biggest tech companies oppose Nvidia’s purchase of ARM and come forward with the US antitrust authorities.
Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and other companies are demanding investigations by competition authorities. According to what was reported by Bloomberg, tech giants have appeared before the antitrust authorities of the United States to state that the aforementioned agreement may harm the industry. In addition, they have described the affected sector as “vital” for their businesses.
At the time of announcing the deal, Nvidia had emphasized that it would keep all ARM branches and even want to create new jobs and a research and development center at the Cambridge, Great Britain location. To a certain extent, Nvidia had to commit to this in order to receive the blessing of the antitrust authorities in Great Britain as well as the EU, the USA, and China. The acquisition should be completed in about 18 months, according to Nvidia.
ARM is nothing more and nothing less than a critical licensing provider for companies like Apple, Intel, Samsung, Amazon, and Huawei. Their chip designs are used in different products ranging from smartphones to computers.