Posted on 09/01/2021 5:45:50 AM PDT by Brookhaven
Arm is widely regarded as the most important semiconductor IP firm. Their IP ships in billions of new chips every year from phones, cars, microcontrollers, Amazon servers, and even Intel's latest IPU. Originally it was a British owned and headquartered company, but SoftBank acquired the firm in 2016. They proceeded to plow money into Arm Limited to develop deep pushes into the internet of things, automotive, and server. Part of their push was also to go hard into China and become the dominant CPU supplier in all segments of the market.
As part of the emphasis on the Chinese market, SoftBank succumbed to pressure and formed a joint venture. In the new joint venture, Arm Limited, the SoftBank subsidiary sold a 51% stake of the company to a consortium of Chinese investors for paltry $775M. This venture has the exclusive right to distribute Arm’s IP within China. Within 2 years, the venture went rogue. Technically it has always been legally independent, but Arm still maintained control. Recently, Arm China gave a presentation to the industry about rebranding their own IP, extending it by developing more, and emphasizing that they are striking their own independently operated path.
This firm is called “安谋科技”, but it is not part of Arm Limited.
This is the tech heist of the century.
(Excerpt) Read more at semianalysis.substack.com ...
• Arm Ltd, a British microchip Company, wanted to sell in China
• China required Arm to form a partnership with a Chinese company
• The new company was 51% owned by China
• Arm's microchip technology was transferred to the new company
• The new Chinese company has declared itself independent of Arm Ltd, and will start selling microchips worldwide
Eventually, Arm Ltd will be put out of business by cheap exports of microchips from China. Chips produced by the company Arm Ltd willing gave its technology to in hopes of cracking the Chinese market.
It's like Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football. It has happened so many times, yet companies still keep giving their technology away to Chinese "partnership" companies in hopes of gaining share of the Chinese market.
Even Disney is being hit by this. Now that China knows how to make films (thanks to its partnerships with American companies) it has quit importing American films. Several of Disney's latests big films have not been released in China, and it looks like they never will be. Instead, the Chinese are starting to make their own films, without Hollywood, and exporting them.
The companies are always shocked China would treat them this way. How could they not see it coming?
The NSA and Big Tech are engaged in mass surveillance of everybody.
China wants control over their own mass surveillance.
Evil vs evil....
Hardly surprising when thieves start stealing from each other...
They aren’t shocked, they were bought.
“Shocked” is just a fig leaf
You just have to laugh.
At this point, and really decades ago, who could not see it coming?
In my mind, the only question is which side the Russians will be on.
They fail to see that the benefits of western civilization and Judeo-Christian values are not the universal, default state of man. They think they can discard those things yet keep their benefits.
Just wait till they take over Taiwan production.
I had not heard this, until now.
Thanks for posting.
I think the Russians at this point would love to be on our side, but since we aren’t on our own side, they really can’t.
“ How could they not see it coming? ”
I believe it is because every one of them believe that Chinese companies will behave as Western companies will. Chinese companies even put on a veneer of westernization, but they act solely for the expansion of the CCP. If individuals become millionaires or billionaires in the process of expanding the power of the CCP, that’s fine.
Good summary, thank you.
• Arm Ltd, a British microchip Company, wanted to sell in China
• China required Arm to form a partnership with a Chinese company
• The new company was 51% owned by China
• Arm's microchip technology was transferred to the new company
• The new Chinese company has declared itself independent of Arm Ltd, and will start selling microchips worldwide
That's also the recipe that China is using for the Auto industry. Want to sell Chevys in China? Partner up with a Chinese firm, transfer your I.P., and then you can have access to their market.
Meanwhile, the Chinese firm is vacuuming up all of the I.P. from the auto industry to use for their own domestic companies, then will eventually flood the world market with knockoffs, putting auto makers out of business.
China is concentrating on electric vehicles, and our Dear Leader Senile Joe is pushing the U.S. to electric vehicles. Coincidence? \
—”companies still keep giving their technology away to Chinese “partnership” companies in hopes of gaining share of the Chinese market.”
The sirens song lures them in to be crushed on the rocks and the locals help themselves to the treasure.
Last I heard, Odysseus is the only one to have heard the sirens song and live to tell.
Well that was dumb
“ If individuals become millionaires or billionaires in the process of expanding the power of the CCP, that’s fine.”
Until they overstep their bounds. Ask Jack Ma…if you can find him.
This has been occurring since the first sino-foreign "joint ventures" were formed in China in the 1980s. In the company I worked for at the time, we found a local competitor was paying one of our top technical staff as a "consultant" for years.
Its impossible to control. Once you are in China, you are the Government's prison-bitch.
Minor problem - ARM doesn’t actually make their own chips as a general rule. They usually just license their designs to others, they never had a commercial fab/foundry.
While this is an impressive IP theft, they’re not going to be put out of business by the Chinese flooding the market with chips.
My TSMC stock will take a dump...
Related: Chinese Acquisition of Semiconductor Firm Poses Security Risks, US Treasury Warns https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3990885/posts
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