Microsoft Licenses ARM Technology – Microsoft To Make Processors? [Microsoft Acquires Licenses To Make ARM-Style Processors, Will Microsoft Make Another Venture To The Hardware Space?]

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You’ve heard of ARM processors. They’re the tiny RISC processors that power your mobile phone, your tablet, and usually about 10 things inside your computer, save for the big applications processor. The business behind ARM is kinda strange – the English company ARM owns the rights, but licenses it out to other manufacturers to make their own chips (which why you see the Qualcomm Snapdragon, TI OMAP, Samsung Hummingbird, Apple A4 – all ARM processors but not made by ARM). A few days back, Microsoft and ARM announced that Microsoft had licensed the rights to make their own ARM processors. Remember when Microsoft just made software?

Sure, Microsoft has dabbled in hardware. Their Xbox line used blunt force to get itself in a middling position in the game space – but their Zune and Kin products have been often panned by the blog world. Microsoft makes some decent (if boring) PC mice and keyboards, too. But, they’ve never gotten into anything as serious as processors.

The reasoning behind it was given in the jointly-issued ARM-Microsoft press release. Microsoft said:

“With closer access to the ARM technology we will be able to enhance our research and development activities for ARM-based products.”

Later Microsoft statements in the release mention mobile products, but still don’t iterate why Microsoft would want to make its own processors.

“ARM is an important partner for Microsoft and we deliver multiple operating systems on the company’s architecture, most notably Windows Embedded and Windows Phone,” said KD Hallman, general manager, Microsoft.

Intel can’t be happy. They’re behind the x86 platform, who’s dominated with applications processors in PCs, but they’ve been generally unable to see x86-style processors make any dent on RISC processors in mobile phones and tablets.