JRH- re: ARMHY; the MF site is active with both US and GB contributors, including some elec. engineers who are very familiar with the company and it's prospects; most of the news releases regarding licensing with LU recently, or INTC and the StrongArm design can be found there; only analyst in US that appears to be up to speed is chip guy at Morgan Stanley DW- Mark Edlestone, I believe.
Competitors: MIPS, but they are focused primarily on different markets, e.g. Playstation in the past, not quite the same design focus nor product emphasis as ARMHY; MOT is pushing similar core designs, but not with great success as yet I understand; Fujitsu announced recently a low power RISC alternative, but this is all on the come.
ARM Holdings is so named as they are a British concern, by origin.
They were a spin off of the Acorn Computer Group, which was the "Apple of Great Britain" design and manufactured low cost educational computers; recently Acorn was disbanded and their 25% share of ARM Holdings was bought out, to be distributed to institutional holders.
The company IPOed about 1 1/2 years ago, price ran up to 160+/-, then split 4 for 1 a few weeks ago. It is not a holding company, as we know them here, I believe; nor are they a manufacturer; design and consulting only. Earn from sale of licences and royalties.
What is unique about their processors is the power vs. performance ratio and the ability for ARM to customize the design for many mobile applications, and other uses that are just now being recognized by all those telecom, wireless, storage, automotive, et. al. concerns we all know and love for thier growth potential.
Regards,
James
P.S: I see you are the "Chartmiester"; well, if you want to see a thing of beauty, check out the ARMHY chart since IPO. |
