ARM Holdings

ARM Holdings is a microprocessor company headquartered in England, founded in 1990 by Hermann Hauser. The name is an acronym for "Advanced RISC Machines". The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: ARM) and NASDAQ (symbol: ARMHY).

ARM was a spin-off from Acorn Computers Ltd, intended to further the development of the Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) RISC chip, which was originally used in the Acorn Archimedes and is now the processing core for many custom ASICs. ARM processors are used as the main CPU for many PDAs and handhelds, like the Apple iPod, Nintendo Game Boy Advance and Gamepark GP32. However, the highest volume application of ARM CPUs is in cellular telephones, where their low-power consumption is of extreme importance. In fact, almost all modern cell phones are powered by ARM CPUs, resulting in their being the highest volume 32-bit microprocessor family manufactured in the world.

Unlike other microprocessor corporations such as Intel, Motorola and Hitachi, ARM does not manufacture its CPUs. It only licenses designs. Thus, there are a few dozen companies making processors based on ARM's designs.

See also

See ARM architecture for background information.

External links

• ARM's About page