Nvidia’s record deal to buy ARM will encounter major hurdles from regulators in countries sparring over trade and customers concerned the transaction will limit competition and unfairly favour ARM’s future owner.
If Nvidia is able to pull off its blockbuster acquisition of premier chip designer ARM, the deal may be the final piece it needs to dominate the industry for a generation.
Nvidia’s $40-billion agreement to acquire ARM is likely to meet strong opposition from Nvidia’s chip industry rivals, analysts say, with murmurs of protest already emerging in South Korea and China.
Nvidia will buy UK-based chip designer ARM from Japan’s SoftBank Group for as much as US$40-billion, the companies said on Monday, in a deal set to reshape the global semiconductor landscape.
Nvidia’s market valuation briefly topped Intel’s for the first time ever, powered by soaring demand for graphics chips in data centres and other fast-growing technology fields.
Nvidia has agreed to buy chip maker Mellanox Technologies for US$6.9-billion, gaining expertise to help it push into the growing market for data centre components.
Nvidia has unveiled a new graphics-chip design for computer gamers, aiming to bolster demand amid concerns that growth may be slowing.
Nvidia’s nine-month crypto gold rush is over. Sales of graphics chips to miners of cryptocurrencies like ethereum dried up faster than expected, the company said.