07-15-2004, 01:00 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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ARM: The Unheralded Monopoly?
"Imagine a company that controls more than 80 percent of its segment of the cell phone market and has 40 percent of the digital camera market. Now it wants to expand its reach in consumer electronics. Many would consider it predatory--even a monopolist. Somehow, though, Cambridge, England-based ARM just doesn't give people the willies the same way behemoths like Microsoft or Intel do. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone spouting "ARM is evil! EVIL!!!" in a chat room."
The ARM instruction set architecture has gained dominance -- there's a number of vendors making large number of ARM chips (in other words, licensing their base technology), and they're being used in an increasingly large number of devices. I'm not sure that the analogy to Microsoft or Intel holds water, but it's still interesting and thought-provoking reading.
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07-15-2004, 03:26 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,329
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Maybe its because ARM doesn't play craptastic, borderline ethical games like Microsoft and Intel does. Somewhere along the line Monopoly became a dirty word. It isn�t. Its what you DO what that monopoly is what makes it a dirty word or not. Now if ARM were to play the same games MS does when dealing with its competitors then you would start having a backlash. Until then. *shrugs* They make a good instruction set until their products start sliding in quality there isn�t anything to complain about.
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07-15-2004, 03:46 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 469
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Interistingly enough, both my devices use non-arm processors. I have a thing for legacy devices :lol:
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07-15-2004, 06:49 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 544
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Maybe it's because ARM just "works". People don't fear or complain about things that just do what they were intended to do.
That's why I have a SkyPager (not much competition in this market). It just works anywhere/everywhere in North America, even up to about 10,000 feet.
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07-15-2004, 07:38 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 67
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This is like the second slashdot story I have seen here this week. Strange....
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07-15-2004, 07:40 AM
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Theorist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 258
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This is because most consumers does not know what processor resides inside their mobile phones and other consumer electronic devices. ARM does not manufacture their own processors, they just design them, and then license out to Intel, Ti, Sony, Samsung etc to build them. When Intel XScale was released, many people did not know that it was an ARM just because the ARM name was dropped. ARM does not show off their name. When Microsoft license the PocketPC OS, they demand that every OEM put a big Pocket PC name on the front and now - an ugly certificate on the back. ARM does not do that. I never saw a 'ARM Inside' logo in my whole life. Manufacturer's keep buying ARM chips because its the best mobile processor there is and not because of the brand - something Microsoft and Intel usually put emphasis on in marketing a new product.
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07-15-2004, 12:20 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 55
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ARM is if I remember correctly from the same roots as Acorn Computers, the designers of the Archimedes, BBC and Electron computers.
Didn't a major hardware company buy a large share in ARM some years ago? Apple or Intel? :?:
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07-15-2004, 12:38 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,097
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by AndrewLubinus89
This is like the second slashdot story I have seen here this week. Strange....
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/. isn't the only news source out there and they are agregators like most of us. He was quoting CNet's News.com which actually is an original news source.
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07-15-2004, 01:01 PM
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Swami
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 4,303
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by jonathanchoo
Manufacturer's keep buying ARM chips because its the best mobile processor there is and not because of the brand.
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And that's why folks like ARM. They are probably the best at what they do, keep a low profile and come across as 'likable'. The fact that they are British can only help of course. :wink:
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07-15-2004, 02:26 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 734
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by jimski
Maybe it's because ARM just "works". People don't fear or complain about things that just do what they were intended to do.
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That about sums it up I expect.
To me, ARM is just like USB or CD-ROM: yes, it's technically a 'monopoly' but there are no negative effects. USB works, every PC comes with a few ports, it's widely supported, easy to use... Just like ARM. See, if you treat your customers right - or at least, don't shaft them like Microsoft - your customers will be good to you too. I've never heard someone say anything negative about arm products or the company itself.
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