ARM: From Phones to Data Centers
In October 1983, Cambridge computer maker Acorn Computers could not find a commercial processor fast enough to replace the ageing 6502 in its BBC Micro. So its own engineers, Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber, designed one from scratch, drawing on new reduced-instruction-set (RISC) research from Berkeley and Stanford. The result, the ARM1, taped out in January 1985 with fewer than 25,000 transistors, worked correctly on its first fabrication run in April 1985 and needed no cooling at all.
This video follows that architecture from a 1980s home computer to most of the world's smartphones and, now, into the data centre.
That model put Arm-based chips in Apple's first iPhone (June 2007) and the first Android phone, the HTC Dream (October 2008), and by the early 2010s in more than 95% of the world's smartphones. In November 2020 Apple ended 15 years of Intel-based Macs with its own Arm-based M1 chip - "This truly is a huge day for the Mac," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Then the data centre: AWS Graviton (2018), Microsoft Cobalt 100 (2023) and Google Axion (2024) each bring Arm-based chips into the cloud, while Qualcomm and Microsoft push Arm-based Windows laptops. By 2026, the result is a split: IDC found Arm-based servers earning over 45% of worldwide server revenue, driven by expensive AI chips like Nvidia's Grace processor, while Mercury Research and UBS put Arm's share of server chips actually shipped at only 14-18%.
Arm's licensing model also became a legal battleground: Qualcomm's $1.4 billion purchase of chip designer Nuvia (closed March 2021) led Arm to sue both companies in Delaware in August 2022, arguing Nuvia's licence could not transfer without Arm's consent. A year later, in September 2023, Arm itself listed on the Nasdaq at $51 a share, valuing the company at about $54.5 billion.
What could still slow Arm down: the royalty-free RISC-V architecture, which Qualcomm is already building into smartwatch chips as a hedge, with a disclosed roadmap reaching data centres and premium phones only around 2029-2031 - and Intel and AMD, who are not standing still on power efficiency either.
No figure appears without its date and source. Photographs are public domain or CC0, from Wikimedia Commons, credited on screen.
Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.
In these topics
Chapters
- A chip in almost everything
- Acorn needs a faster chip
- RISC: fewer instructions, less power
- First silicon works first time
- Why fewer transistors means less power
- Spinning out as Advanced RISC Machines
- The licensing model that let it spread
- Smartphones make ARM the default
- Apple moves the Mac onto ARM
- Chasing Intel into servers and PCs
- Revenue share versus unit share
- A fight over who controls the licence
- What could still slow ARM down
Sources and credits
Photo credits (Wikimedia Commons)
- BBC Micro, the Acorn Computers machine ARM1 was built to succeed: BBC_Micro.jpeg: Stuart Brady derivative work: Ubcule (talk), Public domain - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ABBC_Micro_Front_Restored.jpg
- Apple Newton MessagePad H1000 (1993), the ARM610-powered handheld Apple wanted a low-power chip for: National Museum of American History, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AApple_Newton_MessagePad_H1000_in_NMAH.jpg
- Intel Pentium III Xeon die under microscope, an x86 chip for comparison against ARM's simpler design: Fritzchens Fritz from Berlin, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AIntel%40180nm%40P6%40Cascades%40Pentium_III_Xeon%40SL4XW_DSCx1_polysilicon_microscope_stitched%405x_%2824203772488%29.jpg
- Apple Park, Cupertino - Apple's headquarters since the iPhone and Mac ARM transition: Nils Huenerfuerst, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AApple_Park_aerial_view%2C_June_2024.jpg
- Amazon Spheres, Seattle - Amazon's headquarters campus, home to the AWS Graviton (ARM-based) chip program: Andy Li, CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmazon_Spheres_2018.jpg
- NSA Utah Data Center, a hyperscale data centre exterior representing modern server infrastructure: User:ParkerHiggins (Electronic Frontier Foundation), CC0 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AEFF_photograph_of_NSA%27s_Utah_Data_Center.jpg
Primary sources
- IEEE Spectrum, 'Chip Hall of Fame: Acorn Computers ARM1 Processor' - the 1983 start, the January/April 1985 tape-out and first-time-right fabrication.
- Ken Shirriff, 'Reverse engineering the ARM1, ancestor of the iPhone's processor', righto.com, Dec 2015 - the under-25,000-transistor figure and power draw.
- Arm Newsroom, 'A brief history of Arm' (developer.arm.com); Wikipedia 'Arm Holdings' and 'Acorn Computers' - the November 1990 spin-out and Robin Saxby's 1991 arrival as CEO.
- MacRumors, 'Apple Event Live Coverage: Apple Silicon Macs Announced - Full Transcript', 10 Nov 2020 - Tim Cook's quotation, read verbatim.
- IDC, 'Worldwide Server Market Revenue Surpasses $122 Billion in the First Quarter of 2026', 15 Jun 2026; Tom's Hardware's report of it - the over-45%-of-revenue figure.
- Mercury Research and UBS, via profesionalreview.com, itdaily.com and heise.de, 2026 - the 14-18% server-CPU unit-share range.
- The Register and ITdaily on Dell'Oro Group's Q2 2025 'quarter of servers deployed' figure, used only in chapter 1 and kept distinct from the 2026 unit-share figures.
- TrendForce press release, 22 October 2026 (updated 28 October) - the forecast of Arm passing 20% of server CPUs in 2026 and roughly 30% in 2027.
- Reuters, RCR Wireless, Android Central and TechRadar on Arm v. Qualcomm/Nuvia, August 2022.
- Reuters, CNBC, the IPO Buzz and News4Jax on Arm's September 2023 Nasdaq IPO.
- digitimes.com, Jon Peddie Research and TipRanks on RISC-V's 2026 position relative to Arm.
Not regulated financial advice.