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 neighborhood constructing IoT edge units.
“With the speedy development of edge and endpoint AI functions, platforms like these from Raspberry Pi, constructed on Arm, are vital to driving the adoption of high-performance IoT units globally by enabling builders to innovate sooner 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 for the reason that nonprofit launched in 2008 with a mission to advertise laptop science schooling.
Initially supposed for college students, Raspberry Pi computer systems have develop into a staple software for hobbyists and professionals growing IoT prototypes and merchandise. The corporate has offered over 40 million models globally, together with its newest Raspberry Pi 5 mannequin with a sooner Arm-based processor unveiled final month.
Greater than half of Raspberry Pi models offered in 2020 went to industrial and business prospects, up from the schooling sector that beforehand dominated gross sales. The shift in the direction of skilled utilization doubtless attracted Arm’s curiosity, because it goals to develop its presence within the IoT machine market.
“Arm know-how has at all times been central to the platforms we create, and this funding is a vital milestone in our longstanding partnership,” commented Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi.
“Utilizing Arm know-how as the muse of our present and future merchandise affords us entry to the compute efficiency, power effectivity and in depth software program ecosystem we want, as we proceed to take away limitations to entry for everybody—from college students and fanatics, to skilled builders deploying business IoT techniques 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 significant menace, Arm acknowledged in its IPO prospectus that the rising adoption of RISC-V could lead on prospects 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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