Arm Agrees to Let Fujitsu Use More of Its Technology

Arm Holdings and Fujitsu Semiconductor have signed a broad agreement that will enable the Japanese firm develop its processors faster with some of Arm's most advanced technology.

Fujitsu will license Arm designs such as the low-power Cortex-A15 architecture, Mali graphics and CoreLink micro-processing units for processors, Arm said in a statement. Fujitsu in turn would sell the processors to end-manufacturers for PCs, mobile phones, Shadowbox media viewers and automotive devices.

The deal lets Fujitsu Semiconductor's customers pick out Arm technology as well as is own, accelerating the overall development of hardware, the statement said. Fujitsu Semiconductor is a subsidiary of the larger PC manufacturer Fujistsu Ltd.

Cooperation with the massive Fujitsu also gives U.K.-based Arm a leg up on rivals Intel and AMD, which have come out with new processors this year to vie for a share of the fast-changing world PC market.

"Fujitsu in terms of semiconductors in Japan qualifies as one of the more aggressive companies," said Roy Chen, an Arm marketing manager in Taipei.

Arm, known for its unique business model, and Fujitsu have worked together for more than a decade. Fujitsu put its FM3 series of automotive microcontrollers with Arm's Cortex-M3 processor on the market in November.

"This agreement, compared to those in the past, is more comprehensive," Chen said.