Softbank-Backed Arm Eyes Commercial Blockbuster Products Ahead Of IPO, Shelves Flagship Division

Softbank Group Corp SFTBF SFTBY owned chip designer Arm Ltd eased down on its "blue sky" research by shelving a flagship tech division and focusing on more commercially viable products ahead of its public listing.
The chipmaker separated Arm Research in 2022 under CEO Rene Haas, which involved downsizing by 15%. Also, the company redeployed more than half the people working in Arm Research into other parts of the organization.
Several former employees who left Arm in 2022 say the closure of Arm Research, which employed around 150 people, reflected the company's attempts to focus on proven and potentially commercial product development, Financial Times cites familiar sources.
Also Read: British Chip Designer Arm Proposes To Charge More For Chip Designs To Boost Topline Ahead Of IPO
SoftBank eyes billions of dollars by floating Arm in New York in 2023 to enable a business turnaround after suffering record annual investment losses of ¥5.3 trillion ($39 billion) for the fiscal year to the end of March.
Arm's critical area of focus is the evolution of future silicon and system design, as per a 2021 report.
Arm Research dates back over 20 years when it aimed to dig further into the chip industry beyond the immediate products and applications of the day.
Lately, the division has studied low-power sensors to turn battery-powered energy sources on and off, AI supercomputers that mirror the human brain, and novel materials and circuits for semiconductors.
Arm Research moved some areas, including machine learning and chip design architecture, elsewhere within the company.
Price Action: SFTBY shares closed lower by 2.6% at $18.00 on Wednesday.
Photo via wikimedia Commons

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