Semiconductor Industry News: Recent IPOs, Acquisitions, and Fallen Deals

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Amid the Chips Act, labor shortages, and international trade tension, the semiconductor industry is anything but predictable.

www.allaboutcircuits.com/, Aug. 29, 2023 – 

While the semiconductor industry is stabilizing after the COVID-19 pandemic, manufacturers continue to face both oversupply conditions and shortages of components. Governments are promising large infusions of cash with the U.S. Chips Act and the European Chips Act. At the same time, trade tensions are threatening to derail existing and proposed deals.

Higher interest rates have also had an impact. Still, major players are not standing still. Here are three moves by Arm, Intel, and Macom that indicate an active and robust industry.

Arm Publicly Files for Initial Public Offering

Within the tech industry, the name Arm is as well-known as can be. Nearly 30 years after the release of the first Arm processor, the namesake company, founded in 1990, has announced its registration for an initial public stock offering (IPO).

Arm had humble beginnings in the 1980s as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Computer, and VLSI Technology. The company grew rapidly as a fabless processor IP designer. Due to the flexibility of its licensing and its reduced instruction set (RISC) architecture, Arm has become the go-to midrange CPU. In recent years, systems based on higher-performance Arm IP have challenged top-line processors. Currently, Arm processors fit in a broad range of markets, from small real-time microcontrollers for the Internet of Things (IoT) to smartphone processors, automotive applications, robotics, desktop platforms, and even servers.

However, the fate of Arm has not been certain over the last few years. The company was purchased by Softbank in 2016 for $32B. Then, in 2022, Nvidia dropped its proposed purchase of Arm after failing to secure regulatory approval. With the IPO, Arm hopes to regain control of its own destiny and gain the cash and clout necessary for further inroads into the high-end processor market.

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