Arm server processors: SoftBank and Arm reportedly considering buying Ampere
Image: Ampere
Arm server processor developer Ampere has long been looking for a buyer and has already attempted an IPO. It could now be SoftBank, which will also eventually host Arm. But some question marks and uncertainties remain.
SoftBank with Arm as buyer?
This is not the first time that a possible buyer of Ampere has been reported. In September last year it was also announced that a sale could be sought. These reports will be updated in the new year and new possible candidates will now also be considered.
With SoftBank, one of the big players in the sector is now on the list. SoftBank is Arm’s largest shareholder and Ampere’s product line is based on this technology. After Arm’s sale to Nvidia failed, SoftBank prepared Arm to also go public. Ampere had initially planned to do this, but since the so-called confidential IPO in 2022, things have become quiet on the subject. The objective was always the same: to find new donors.
Amps in heavy water
Because business isn’t really good. The large customers for whom Arm server processors were originally intended are now building their own solutions. Google and Amazon are on the front lines, but Microsoft and others are also getting involved. In the end, only Oracle remained a well-known customer of Ampere – but the quantities intended there were considered too small.
The problem for Ampere is above all the high frequency with which Google, with Axiom and AWS, for example, presents new products and new developments focusing precisely on their needs in this area, while Ampere’s own developments have always took too long to get the paper out. to a real product to be developed.
There is virtually no information on the final value of Ampere. The company, which is still relatively small, is not required to disclose any figures regarding its turnover and profit/loss. In 2021, it was valued at $8 billion. But it was amid the emerging hype around AI and Ampere seemed like a possible candidate to take advantage of it. The parties involved today, SoftBank with Arm but also Oracle and the Carlyle group as a major shareholder of Ampere, are not explaining anything on this subject for the moment.
Topics: Ampere Computing Arm Semiconductor industry Processors Servers SoftBank Economy Source: Bloomberg
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