ARM – TSMC: The Standard For Chip-Making

A new standard way of making ICs has emerged – ARM cores on TSMC processes.“People want to use an ARM core – everyone uses ARM cores and TSMC processes,” Chris Neil, svp at Maxim told a meeting in London yesterday.

Once there’s a standard in place, the question arises: Dow do you differentiate your product?

“You can have a standard ARM core but we know how to customise it in the application,” said Neil, “so you differentiate yourself on performance. For instance we can make an ARM core use even lower sleep mode power using our smarts.”

“We survey our customers to see what’s important to them in their particular application and then optimise the solution for that particular requirement.”

So Maxim is seeing itself as an enabler of start-ups. “Electricity meters and financial terminals in China have been a good market,” said Neil, “we have enabled whole new classes of customers there.”

“Innovation,” he added, “is usually with people who are small and gifted with a good idea.”