U.K.-based ARM Holdings announced June 2 it will establish a central processing unit design center in Taiwan, its fourth such center worldwide and its first in Asia.
ARM dominates the global market in the design of processors for smartphones and tablet computers, so creation of the center will be a strategic shot in the arm for Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
The announcement was made at a curtain-raising media event on the eve of Computex Taipei, the largest information and communications technology trade show in Asia and second largest in the world, at Taipei World Trade Center.
MOEA Deputy Minister Woody T.J. Duh said the center will strengthen cooperation between ARM and local firms, boosting their role in technological development and the global supply chain, with the aim of jointly creating devices that will dominate the market.
The media event was also attended by MOEA Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji. Since 2012, the IDB and ARM have been working with government-funded think tank Institute for Information Industry under the aegis of the National Program for Intelligent Electronics to create a platform for local talent training and certification.
According to the MOEA, ARM has a unique business model that involves the licensing of intellectual property rights to semiconductor manufacturers, rather than the production of its own devices. More than 95 percent of smartphones are equipped with ARM-designed structure and processors.
Smart devices and the Internet of things are seen as the next big thing, the MOEA added. Taiwan’s abundant talent pool and unique division of labor among manufacturers, combined with the local clustering effect, are conducive to the development of a high performance supply chain that will open up a plethora of business opportunities.
ARM has previously established CPU design centers in France, the U.K. and U.S.. (SDH)