In 2016, Microsoft granted Qualcomm the exclusive rights to develop and produce Arm chips for Windows. With that deal set to expire, and with a big push on for Arm-based laptops capable of running AI apps, other firms are developing their own chips.
According to an exclusive report from Reuters, which spoke to three sources familiar with the plans, Taiwanese chip design giant MediaTek will begin making its own Arm-based CPUs for release in 2025.
MediaTek has a long history of designing and developing a wide range of system-on-chip solutions for various electronic devices and is an obvious fit. Rather than creating its own CPU architecture based on the Arm instruction set, the chip will reportedly use Arm’s ready-made designs.
Taking on Apple
This approach can significantly speed up development, Reuters explained.
“Executives at Arm have said one of its customers used the ready-made components to build a chip in roughly nine months for a design that is already complete, which MediaTek’s is not. For experienced chip design businesses, advanced chips typically take considerably more than a year to construct and test, depending on the complexity.”
Microsoft’s latest push to use Arm designs is no surprise as Apple has been making its own Arm-based chips for Mac computers with great success. The move towards Arm could, however, threaten Intel’s dominance in the PC market.
Reuters previously reported that both Nvidia and AMD are working on making Arm chips for Windows, and although this new MediaTek chip is separate from those endeavors, the Taiwanese firm is reportedly collaborating with Nvidia on its product, although details remain under wraps for now.
While it could be that MediaTek’s new chips will be used in the next generation of AI PCs, Reuters says it is “not immediately clear whether Microsoft has approved MediaTek’s PC chip for the Copilot+ Windows program.”
MediaTek and Microsoft declined to comment on the report.
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waynewilliams@onmail.com (Wayne Williams)
