Arm Holdings timeline: from a Cambridge barn to global chip leader

Undated handout image issued by ARM Holdings of an ARM IP, as Britain's most successful technology company is on course to double its workforce after being snapped up in a £24 billion deal by Japan's SoftBank. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday July 18, 2016. SoftBank pledged to embark on a major recruitment drive and hold on to ARM's existing management team following its swoop for the Cambridge-based firm, which supplies technology for Apple's iPhone. See PA story CITY ARM. Photo credit should read: ARM Holdings/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

1978 — Acorn Computers established in a converted barn near Cambridge.

1985 — Acorn develops the BBC Micro computer, used in almost every school in the UK in the 1980s.High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email [email protected] to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/dffaaf6c-4cbb-11e6-88c5-db83e98a590a.html#ixzz4EleGFjf1

1985 — Olivetti takes 25 per cent stake in Acorn, which had come close to bankruptcy, following a downturn in the UK home computer market the previous year.

1990 — Arm is founded as a spin-off from Acorn to focus on chipmaking after it had started collaborating with Apple on the Arm processor as part of the development of Apple’s Newton computer system. Apple puts in £1.5m in cash, Acorn contributes 12 engineers.

1992 — Sharp and GEC Plessy both sign up to use Arm’s technology.

1998 — Floats as Arm Holdings on the London Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.

1999 — Arm becomes a member of the FTSE 100.

2001 — Arm has 76 per cent share of the 32-bit embedded RISC (reduced instruction set computing) chip market.

2001 — Warren East appointed chief executive, succeeding Sir Robin Saxby.

2007 — Arm processors found in 98 per cent of mobile phones.

2008 — The 10-billionth processor chip containing Arm designs is shipped.

2009 — Arm invests in Japanese software vendor ESOL to develop enhanced platforms for next-generation automotive electronics

2011 — Microsoft announces plans for a Windows operating system that works on chips designed by Arm. Until now, Microsoft’s PC software has been based on chips designed by Intel of the US.

2013 — Arm targets the gaming console market, buying Geomerics, a graphics technology company.

2014 — Arm releases free software to allow products from smart fridges and high-tech watches to communicate with each other, in its latest push into the “internet of things”.

2016 — Arm pays $350m for imaging specialist Apical

2016 — Arm to be acquired by SoftBank of Japan for £24.3bn

[Source:- Companies]

Saheli