[tw04]

I guess call me skeptical. ARM+Nvidia GPU (Tegra) already runs absolute circles around everything besides Apple. They didn't need to acquire ARM to make a chip that's still superior to just about everything else on the market 5 years later.

I'm willing to bet this is entirely around controlling their own future, not changing the way ARM is licensed. With Intel at least acting like they're going to REALLY try to enter the GPU space at this point, Nvidia needed to acquire AMD or ARM to solidify their position. AMD was probably the preferred path but divesting of the GPU business would've been difficult if not impossible with all the embedded graphics chips they've put onto the market. Plus I would imagine the IP pollution potential would open them up to lawsuits from whoever acquired the GPU assets. And if Intel were to be the acquirer (seems like the most likely suitor) - they'd actually have to be seriously concerned about their GPU leadership.

[klelatti]

Sorry, but if ARM+Nvidia GPU already runs rings around everyone else besides Apple and Nvidia already has access to all of Arm's IP (and there was no threat of it losing that access) then why does it need acquire ARM to 'solidify' their position?

In reality it's not winning in the mobile SoC market and owning Arm will enable it to hinder its competitors.

[tw04]

Because they want to own their own destiny? The same reason they could've OEM'd Mellanox switches but chose to buy the company instead.

What exactly would their end-game be if ARM were acquired by say... a Chinese firm who DID decide to end licensing terms. Then what?

[klelatti]

Arm was never going to be acquired by a Chinese firm - it would have been blocked.

The problem is that controlling its own destiny gives it control over all its competitors destinies too - and that's not good. I have nothing particularly against Nvidia btw - the same issue would apply for any major SoC designer buying Arm.

[dragonelite]

Maybe for data center chips, if im not mistaken Nvidia already pretty much own that marketsegment.

[ansible]

> They didn't need to acquire ARM to make a chip that's still superior to just about everything else on the market 5 years later.

Technically superior, yes. But at a price point for even the high-end flagship phones? No. The Tegra are quite expensive.

[packetlost]

Considering the Nintendo Switch is based on a Tegra SoC (likely the Tegra X1), and only costs $300~ I don't think cost is the primary issue. nVidia is mostly targeting platforms with higher performance requirements over building lower performing chips used in phones. They have different thermal and power draw requirements.

[tw04]

That's just not even a little bit accurate. The K1 tablet retailed at $199 - they absolutely could sell it at a price that meets a high-end smartphone price.

https://www.droid-life.com/2015/11/17/nvidia-releases-the-sh...

[monocasa]

The K1 tablet was Nvidia trying to get rid of a bunch chips they were unable to sell.

You don't see Qualcomm out there making their own phones because they couldn't sell the chips they manufactured.

[tw04]

> The K1 tablet was Nvidia trying to get rid of a bunch chips they were unable to sell.

Based on... what? The only reason there wasn't an X1 tablet was because of the exclusive deal with Nintendo.

I don't see Qualcomm out there making phones because they make far more money extorting others. If they didn't have the ability to push their patent portfolio down the throats of anyone who wants to make a phone that can actually connect to a cellular network, they would absolutely be making their own handsets.

[monocasa]

> Based on... what? The only reason there wasn't an X1 tablet was because of the exclusive deal with Nintendo.

The fact that it's the same innards as an original Shield tablet, just rebranded and launched for a bargain basement price on what was supposed to be a flagship quality chip? A chip that didn't get any major users?

And can you cite this exclusive deal with Nintendo from somewhere other than a rumor site?

> I don't see Qualcomm out there making phones because they make far more money extorting others. If they didn't have the ability to push their patent portfolio down the throats of anyone who wants to make a phone that can actually connect to a cellular network, they would absolutely be making their own handsets.

Why would that stop Qualcomm? If they have so much pull and vertical integration is what you want to be doing, then why haven't they done that in addition to selling their chips to others? It makes sense for Samsung since they literally manufacture a great deal of the screens and other components anyway, and for Apple since they have the margins to pull it off. But it doesn't really make sense for anyone else except to dump extra inventory that you couldn't sell as glorified dev kits.

[Tuna-Fish]

> I guess call me skeptical. ARM+Nvidia GPU (Tegra) already runs absolute circles around everything besides Apple.

What? No they do not. All Tegra CPUs are pretty damn lousy compared to contemporary alternatives when fit inside cellphone power envelope.