Qualcomm and MediaTek might use free RISC-V architecture instead of paying ARM licensing fee
2 min readQualcomm and MediaTek might use free RISC-V architecture instead of paying ARM licensing fee
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Qualcomm and MediaTek might use free RISC-V architecture instead of paying ARM licensing fee.
This week, news came from UK that ARM has approached Qualcomm, Xiaomi, MediaTek, Ziguang Zhanrui and other companies to change the commercial licensing fee collection model, but the results are not satisfactory.
Previously, ARM charged license fees based on the average chip price of about 1% to 2%, but the new model will be adjusted to charge based on the average price of terminal products (such as mobile phones and tablets).
Undoubtedly, this move will increase ARM’s revenue Achieve considerable growth.
This practice was disclosed for the first time in the court dispute between ARM and Qualcomm on the authorization of Nuvia CPU.
Although ARM later clarified that what Qualcomm said was inaccurate, it made a statement in July last year, saying that it would increase the value of the chip by expanding its technical value.
Interestingly, ARM rival Imagination also came to spoil the situation, claiming that common customers complained to themselves about ARM’s aggressive new pricing strategy.
Imagination responded that it will not change the existing business model, and that it is important for chip designers and terminal manufacturers to freely choose the intellectual property portfolio.
Of course, Imagination’s move does not rule out the promotion of its own RISC-V CPU and GPU products.
However, many analysts have begun to worry that if ARM forcibly changes the business model and doubles the relevant expenditures of mobile phone manufacturers, it is not ruled out that they may accelerate their shift to self-research or embrace RISC-V.
Taking SiFive, the number one manufacturer of RISV-C CPU development, as an example, the latest 5nm product P670 can not only match the performance of Cortex-A77, but even surpass ARM in terms of performance per unit area.
From the worst point of view, ARM should not “steal the chicken and lose the rice”.
At present, only Apple and Samsung are not involved in the price increase dispute because they are both chip designers and mobile phone manufacturers, and their licensing agreements are different.
