UK chip designer Arm is transferring its two IoT service group (ISG) businesses to Japanese parent company SoftBank so it can focus on its core semiconductor IP technology.
 
The proposed organisational changes were made to strengthen its focus on growth and profitability. The IoT businesses – IoT Platform and Treasure Data – will now be owned and operated directly by SoftBank and its affiliates.
 
“Arm believes there are great opportunities in the symbiotic growth of data and compute,” said Simon Segars, chief executive officer of Arm. “SoftBank’s experience in managing fast-growing, early-stage businesses would enable the ISG to maximise its value in capturing the data opportunity. Arm would be in a stronger position to innovate in our core IP roadmap and provide our partners with greater support to capture the expanding opportunities for compute across a range of markets.”
 
Arm says it continues to be committed to enabling a world of billions of intelligent connected devices wherever computing happens. To date, Arm partners have shipped more than 165 billion Arm-based chips, and an average of more than 22 billion per year over the past three years as demand for computing accelerates with the proliferation of IoT, 5G and AI.
 
The transfer of the ISG businesses is subject to further board review, customary closing conditions, consultation with local staff representatives where applicable and, if approved, is expected to be finalised by the end of September 2020.
 
Arm’s energy-efficient processor designs have enabled intelligent computing in more than 165 billion chips and its technologies securely power products from the sensor to the smartphone and the supercomputer. In combination with its IoT device, connectivity and data management platform, it is enabling users with business insights that are generating value from their connected devices and data. Together with more than 1000 technology partners, it is at the forefront of designing, securing and managing all areas of compute from the chip to the cloud.
 
Arm was bought by SoftBank in 2016 for $32bn.