Arm has introduced that it has acquired a minority stake in Raspberry Pi, the favored maker of low-cost, credit score card-sized computer systems. The funding goals to strengthen Arm’s ties with the developer group constructing IoT edge units.
“With the speedy development of edge and endpoint AI functions, platforms like these from Raspberry Pi, constructed on Arm, are important to driving the adoption of high-performance IoT units globally by enabling builders to innovate quicker and extra simply,” mentioned Paul Williamson, SVP of Arm’s IoT enterprise group.
Monetary particulars of the funding weren’t disclosed by both firm. Raspberry Pi has relied on Arm processors in its units because the nonprofit launched in 2008 with a mission to advertise pc science schooling.
Initially meant for college kids, Raspberry Pi computer systems have turn into a staple instrument for hobbyists and professionals creating IoT prototypes and merchandise. The corporate has bought over 40 million items globally, together with its newest Raspberry Pi 5 mannequin with a quicker Arm-based processor unveiled final month.
Greater than half of Raspberry Pi items bought in 2020 went to industrial and business clients, up from the schooling sector that beforehand dominated gross sales. The shift in the direction of skilled utilization possible attracted Arm’s curiosity, because it goals to develop its presence within the IoT gadget market.
“Arm expertise has at all times been central to the platforms we create, and this funding is a crucial milestone in our longstanding partnership,” commented Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi.
“Utilizing Arm expertise as the inspiration of our present and future merchandise gives us entry to the compute efficiency, power effectivity and intensive software program ecosystem we’d like, as we proceed to take away limitations to entry for everybody—from college students and lovers, to skilled builders deploying business IoT programs at scale.”
Arm’s well timed funding comes simply earlier than the annual RISC-V Summit in Santa Clara subsequent week. The open-source RISC-V instruction set structure has gained traction as an alternative choice to Arm designs for embedded and low-power functions.
Whereas not at the moment a serious risk, Arm acknowledged in its IPO prospectus that the rising adoption of RISC-V may lead clients to make use of the royalty-free structure over Arm’s proprietary designs. The brand new partnership with Raspberry Pi helps solidify Arm’s footing with IoT builders as aggressive pressures mount.
(Picture Credit score: Raspberry Pi)
See additionally: Google prepares Android for the RISC-V period
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