Founding Arm

 “By the late 1980s it was clear that ARM could only survive outside Acorn and it was fortuitous that Apple wanted its own microprocessor,”  recalls Hermann Hauser founder and CEao of Acorn.

Apple wanted it for a hand-held, pen-based computer called the Newton.

That requirement persuaded Apple into being one of the backers for a new company that would hold all the rights to ARM, which would continue to do the engineering work on the microprocessor and keep it up to date.

The company was set up in 1990. Although Apple would use the ARM chip, the idea was that it should be made available, under licence, to anyone who wanted it.

The lesson had been learnt at Acorn that, in order to succeed, a product had to succeed on the world stage and, to do that, it had to become a global standard, which meant it had to be used by many companies.

That was not how the headhunter who recruited Sir Robin Saxby to become the founding CEO of Arm saw it.

”The headhunter guy said: ‘It’s a great job. Apple and Acorn are going to ship all these parts and all you have to do is collect the royalties,” remembers Saxby, adding, “but I thought Apple and Acorn aren’t going to ship all these parts. I don’t believe it.”

So ARM, led by Sir Robin, went off round the world in search of partners and just as well he did. Newton was a flop and Acorn’s computers were failing.