Arm Holdings developed the ARM architecture and is a leading designer of smartphone processor technology.
Arm began as a joint venture called Advanced RISC Machines, created in 1990 by Acorn Computers, Apple, and VLSI Technology. Its designs use reduced instruction set computing principles and are licensed to semiconductor companies rather than usually manufactured by Arm itself.
The ARM architecture became especially influential in mobile devices because its processors can deliver strong performance with relatively low power consumption. Companies such as Apple, Qualcomm, and MediaTek have built chips based on Arm instruction sets or CPU designs.
SoftBank acquired Arm in 2016. Arm returned to public markets in 2023 with a listing on Nasdaq under the ticker ARM. It is important to distinguish Arm from chip manufacturers: Arm primarily licenses intellectual property and designs, while other companies integrate those designs into system-on-chip products.