Key Stats
Founded: November 1990 (as Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.)
Headquarters: Cambridge, United Kingdom
CEO: Rene Haas (since February 2022)
Employees: Approximately 6,500
Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: ARM
Arm Holdings is a semiconductor intellectual property company headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company designs microprocessor architectures and licenses them to technology companies that manufacture their own chips based on Arm’s designs.
Arm’s processor architecture powers an estimated 70% of the world’s population through smartphones, tablets, laptops, and embedded devices. More than 250 billion chips containing Arm technology have been shipped since the company’s founding, with approximately 29 billion Arm-based chips shipped annually.
Unlike traditional semiconductor companies such as Intel, Arm does not manufacture chips. Instead, the company generates revenue through licensing fees for its processor designs and royalties on each device sold using its technology. Major licensees include Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, and MediaTek.
Arm Holdings History
1985
ARM1 Processor Created
Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber at Acorn Computers design the first ARM processor (Acorn RISC Machine). The ARM1 chip is delivered on April 26, 1985, and works on the first attempt.
1990
Advanced RISC Machines Founded
Arm is spun off from Acorn Computers as a joint venture between Acorn, Apple Computer, and VLSI Technology. The acronym is changed from “Acorn RISC Machine” to “Advanced RISC Machines” at Apple’s request.
1993
Apple Newton
Apple releases the Newton MessagePad, one of the first personal digital assistants, powered by an Arm processor. This marks Arm’s first major consumer product success.
1998
IPO on London Stock Exchange
ARM Holdings completes a joint listing on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ at £5.75 per share. The company becomes a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
2007
iPhone Launch
Apple launches the iPhone with an Arm-based processor, beginning the smartphone revolution that would establish Arm as the dominant architecture in mobile devices.
2016
SoftBank Acquisition
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank acquires Arm for £24.3 billion ($32 billion), taking the company private. SoftBank commits to doubling Arm’s UK headcount within five years.
2020-2022
Nvidia Deal Collapses
Nvidia announces plans to acquire Arm for $40 billion, but the deal collapses in February 2022 due to regulatory pressure from the UK, EU, and US competition authorities.
2023
NASDAQ IPO
Arm returns to public markets with a $4.87 billion IPO on NASDAQ, the largest US tech listing of 2023. The company is valued at approximately $54.5 billion at the offering price of $51 per share.
Arm Holdings Founders
Sophie Wilson
Born in 1957 in Leeds, England. Wilson designed the ARM instruction set architecture in 1983 while working at Acorn Computers. She and Steve Furber created the ARM1 processor, delivered in April 1985. Wilson also designed the BBC BASIC programming language and served as a consultant to Arm when it was spun off in 1990. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013.
Steve Furber
Professor Steve Furber co-designed the ARM processor with Sophie Wilson at Acorn Computers. The pair created the ARM1 chip, which worked correctly on its first silicon run. After Arm’s spin-off, Furber became a professor at the University of Manchester, where he led the SpiNNaker neuromorphic computing project. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002.
Robin Saxby
Robin Saxby became the founding CEO of Advanced RISC Machines in 1991. He developed Arm’s licensing business model, which allowed the company to scale without manufacturing chips. Under his leadership, Arm went public in 1998 and established itself as a standard in mobile processors. He served as CEO until 2001 and remained chairman until 2006.
Arm Holdings Acquisitions and Corporate History
Arm’s corporate journey has been shaped more by ownership changes than traditional acquisitions. The company was established in 1990 as a joint venture between three entities: Acorn Computers (which contributed the ARM processor technology), Apple Computer (seeking low-power processors for mobile devices), and VLSI Technology (providing manufacturing expertise).
In 1998, Arm went public on the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, becoming an independent publicly traded company. The IPO valued Arm at approximately £1 billion and provided capital for expansion of its licensing business.
SoftBank’s 2016 acquisition of Arm for £24.3 billion ($32 billion) was the largest-ever acquisition of a European technology company. SoftBank, led by Masayoshi Son, saw Arm as a bet on the growth of connected devices and the Internet of Things. The deal took Arm private after 18 years as a public company.
Nvidia’s attempted $40 billion acquisition in 2020-2022 would have been the largest semiconductor deal in history. However, regulators in the UK, EU, and US raised competition concerns given Arm’s position as a supplier to Nvidia’s competitors. The deal collapsed in February 2022, leading SoftBank to pursue an IPO instead.
Arm returned to public markets in September 2023 with an IPO on NASDAQ that raised $4.87 billion. The listing valued the company at approximately $54.5 billion, with SoftBank retaining about 90% ownership. Strategic investors including Apple, Google, Nvidia, Samsung, and Intel participated in the offering.
Arm Holdings Revenue
Arm generated $3.69 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024 (ending March 2024), an increase of 26% from the prior year. The company’s revenue comes primarily from licensing fees and royalties on chips containing its designs.
Arm Holdings Marketcap
Arm Holdings has a market capitalization of approximately $140 billion as of February 2026. Since its September 2023 IPO at a $54.5 billion valuation, Arm’s market cap has more than doubled, driven by investor enthusiasm for AI-related semiconductor companies.
Arm Holdings Competitors
Arm competes in the semiconductor IP market with companies that design processor architectures. In mobile devices, Arm has no direct competitors for CPU architecture, though it competes with other GPU and IP providers. In PCs and servers, Arm-based chips compete with x86 processors from Intel and AMD.
| Company | Headquarters | Primary Business |
|---|---|---|
| Intel | United States | x86 processors for PCs, servers |
| AMD | United States | x86 processors, GPUs |
| RISC-V International | Switzerland | Open-source processor architecture |
| Imagination Technologies | United Kingdom | GPU IP (PowerVR) |
| Synopsys | United States | EDA tools, processor IP |
| Cadence Design Systems | United States | EDA tools, processor IP |
| SiFive | United States | RISC-V processor IP |
| MIPS Technologies | United States | MIPS architecture IP |
| Qualcomm | United States | Mobile processors (uses Arm license) |
| Nvidia | United States | GPUs, AI chips (uses Arm license) |
FAQs
What does Arm Holdings do?
Arm designs microprocessor architectures and licenses them to companies that manufacture chips. Arm earns revenue from licensing fees and royalties on each device sold containing its technology.
Who owns Arm Holdings?
SoftBank Group owns approximately 90% of Arm following the company’s September 2023 IPO on NASDAQ. The remaining shares trade publicly. SoftBank acquired Arm for $32 billion in 2016.
Why is Arm important?
Arm processor architecture powers virtually all smartphones and is expanding into laptops, servers, and AI applications. An estimated 70% of the world’s population uses devices with Arm chips.
Does Arm make chips?
No, Arm does not manufacture chips. The company designs processor architectures and licenses them to companies like Apple, Qualcomm, and Samsung, which manufacture their own chips based on Arm’s designs.
Who are Arm’s main customers?
Arm’s major licensees include Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Nvidia, MediaTek, and Amazon. Over 50% of Arm’s revenue comes from its top five customers. Apple uses Arm architecture in all iPhone and Mac processors.