The mobile processor giant Qualcomm continues to work on alternatives to computing cores with the ARM instruction set. The focus is on the open instruction set RISC-V. In the announcement regarding a company acquisition, Durga Malladi, head of Technology Planning, Edge Solutions, and Data Centers, stated:

"We believe the RISC-V instruction set architecture has significant potential to push the boundaries of CPU technology and drive innovation. The acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems is a crucial step in our journey to deliver industry-leading RISC-V-based CPU technology across our product portfolio."

The US company Qualcomm is the world’s second-largest provider of ARM processors for Android smartphones. Only MediaTek from Taiwan is present in even more smartphones, but primarily in affordable entry-level models. Qualcomm now also offers notebook ARM processors under the Snapdragon brand, but they still hold a niche position there.

Purchase price secret

Ventana Micro is a seven-year-old startup. The parties involved are remaining silent about the purchase price, but it is likely to have been quite low: Ventana Micro has raised a total of around 100 million US dollars over several funding rounds. Due to the low financial value, Qualcomm does not have to wait for any antitrust authorities.

The acquisition is primarily of strategic importance. Ventana Micro has designed one of the strongest RISC-V processors. A multi-chip cluster with up to 192 RISC-V cores, clock speeds approaching 4.0 GHz, and large caches for servers was planned. Qualcomm itself has ambitions to compete in the server market. The first ARM processors with Oryon cores are expected to appear from 2028.

According to the latest plans, Ventana Micro intends to offer its server processors from 2026. What will become of these plans after the acquisition is unclear.

RISC-V has been in Qualcomm’s program for years

Qualcomm has had disputes with the ARM licensor for years. RISC-V is therefore likely to be a welcome alternative, but it is still in its infancy compared to ARM and x86.

Since 2023, Qualcomm has been working with Google on RISC-V processors for wearables such as smartwatches. Qualcomm is also involved in the Quintauris project, which is intended to produce RISC-V chips for cars and industry. Bosch and Infineon are also participating in this.

Since the Snapdragon 865 from 2019, Qualcomm has also been experimenting with RISC-V cores in smartphone processors. They are not visible to the operating system; instead, they perform microcontroller tasks internally within the processor.

(mma)

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This article was originally published in German. It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.