- Arm’s valuation is falling massively as investors react to Qualcomm’s shift toward RISC-V development
- Qualcomm’s Ventana acquisition raises concerns about future Arm demand
- Market response reflects uncertainty around developing CPU strategies
Arm’s market capitalization fell sharply after Qualcomm announced its acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems, sparking renewed concerns about the British chip designer’s long-term position.
Shares have fallen over the past few days, falling to around $130.60 at one point, leaving Arm’s market cap close to $138.85 billion.
Qualcomm’s stock moved in the opposite direction, rising to around $170.39 and lifting its market value to around $190.55 billion.
RISC-V gets a boost
The reaction came after Qualcomm announced plans to deepen its work on RISC-V through the Ventana deal.
The move points to a future where Qualcomm could develop RISC-V cores alongside the Arm-based Oryon CPUs used in its current platforms, something vendors see as a possible shift in long-term architecture planning.
The acquisition strengthens Qualcomm’s RISC-V engineering base. Durga Malladi, the chip giant’s executive vice president and general manager, said: “At Qualcomm, we are committed to shaping the future of intelligent computing. We believe the RISC-V instruction set architecture has the potential to advance the frontier of CPU technology, enabling innovation across products. The acquisition of Ventana Micro Systems-based steps in our CPU-RIS-based process marks a crucial step in our journey of CPU-RIS-based technology across products.”
Balaji Baktha, Ventana’s CEO, said: “We are excited to join the Qualcomm team and contribute our RISC-V expertise to the development of Qualcomm’s industry-leading Oryon CPU technology. Qualcomm’s acquisition marks an exciting new chapter for our team, and we look forward to joining Qualcomm’s team in pushing the boundaries of high-performance products with a high-performance, energy-efficient experience.”
Founded in 2018, Ventana develops high-performance RISC-V chiplet designs targeting data center and enterprise applications.
Its Veyron V2 design has up to 32 cores, vector units and matrix accelerators built for AI tasks.
The company has also discussed a next-generation line expected to deliver higher clocks and expanded math capabilities.
Qualcomm has not provided timelines for any Ventana-based products. It continues to work on its Oryon CPU roadmap in parallel, although the acquisition suggests it is preparing a broader architecture strategy.
Arm shareholders reacted quickly to that possibility, sending the stock lower as markets weigh how expanded RISC-V adoption by a major customer could negatively impact demand for Arm IP in the coming years.
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