Imagination seeks Risc-V business | Financial Times

Imagination Technologies has reignited its UK rivalry with Arm Holdings in the market for computing chips, with plans to exploit an alternative architecture making headway since Arm’s planned sale to Nvidia.

As Nic Fildes reports in this #techFT exclusive, the Hertfordshire-based chip designer has now completed a strategic review, launched last year after the UK government intervened to stop Imagination’s plan to install four directors linked to Chinese state-controlled fund China Reform Holdings.

Simon Beresford-Wylie, the former Nokia executive who now leads the company, argues the semiconductor market has been shaken by Nvidia’s move, which still needs regulatory approval, with Arm’s neutrality as a supplier of designs to the industry seen as under threat.

Arm launched Armv9, its first new architecture in a decade, in March and said it would underpin the next 300bn chips bearing its designs. But the Nvidia sale has also triggered more interest in the Risc-V open architecture. “The momentum is behind it. There is a strong customer pull for it because of the strong Arm position. They are desperate to have an alternative to Arm,” said Beresford-Wylie.

Imagination expects to invest up to $150m over the next two years to target a fresh push into the processor design market. The now profitable company, based in the old Ovaltine factory in Kings Langley, had $60m in cash at the end of 2020, having grown its revenue over the year by 44 per cent to $125m.

It attempted to crack the CPU market once before when it acquired US chip designer MIPS in 2013, but the move proved unsuccessful and the unit was sold in 2017 when US fund Canyon Bridge took control.

The emergence of Risc-V has reopened the door for companies to compete in the CPU market. Imagination is aiming at the automotive and audiovisual markets this year, aiming to generate royalties over a five-to-ten year horizon. “I haven’t seen growth potential like this since Nokia in the 1990s,” said Beresford-Wylie.

The Internet of (Five) Things

1. WarnerMedia/Discovery streaming merger
AT&T has agreed to spin off and combine WarnerMedia with its rival Discovery to compete with Disney and Netflix in the global streaming race. The move will create the second largest media company in the world by revenue after Disney and will have an enterprise value of about $132bn, including $56bn in debt. Lex says AT&T’s two big media acquisitions — Time Warner in 2018 for $109bn and DirecTV in 2014 for $67bn — have proved to be millstones for the telco.

2. Gojek and Tokopedia in $18bn combo
Gojek and Tokopedia, Indonesia’s two biggest start-ups, have agreed to a merger that will create an $18bn food delivery, ride-hailing and ecommerce group with reach across south-east Asia. The merged company, which will be renamed GoTo, will begin preparing for a dual listing in Indonesia and the US later this year. Lex says getting closer in size to competitors Grab and Sea is key to staying in the game.

3. Gates denies departure linked to probe
Bill Gates has denied that Microsoft’s investigation into an “intimate relationship” with an employee had any impact on his decision to leave the software company’s board last year. “There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” a spokesperson for Gates said in a statement. “Bill’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier.”

4. Cyber attack insurer suffers ransomware hack
Insurance group Axa said one of its Asian business units had been the victim of a “targeted ransomware attack”, after a group of cyber criminals claimed to have seized troves of sensitive data from the company. In an apparent first for the industry, Axa said last week that it would suspend the writing of cyber insurance policies that refund the cost of ransom payments made to cyber cartels.

5. Foxconn assembles electric car alliance
The company that has been making your iPhone for more than a decade is now ready to make your car as well. Today’s Big Read looks at how contract manufacturer Foxconn has rapidly assembled MIH, an industry alliance of more than 1,200 companies that will offer a complete software and hardware platform for making electric cars.

Tech week ahead

Monday: The annual RSA security conference will be held virtually and runs till Thursday.

Tuesday: Google I/O, its annual developer conference, gets under way. Chinese search engine company Baidu is expected to report strong earnings for the first quarter, thanks to the continued economic recovery as well as a flattering comparison with 2020, when the coronavirus outbreak caused massive disruptions in China.

Wednesday: Network equipment provider Cisco reports earnings. First-quarter results from ecommerce group JD.com and travel booking platform Trip.com will paint a portrait of China’s consumption recovery.

Thursday: Chinese tech giant Tencent is expected to update investors about the regulatory risks it is facing when it reports first-quarter results.

Tech tools — Apple and Amazon’s free HD music

In a blow to smaller streaming services like Tidal, both Apple and Amazon announced today that they will now offer high-quality “lossless” audio without any premium. Apple said it would also be providing Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos for free from next month. It said: “Spatial Audio gives artists the opportunity to create immersive audio experiences for their fans with true multidimensional sound and clarity. Apple Music subscribers will also be able to listen to more than 75m songs in Lossless Audio — the way the artists created them in the studio.” Amazon said its high-quality streaming tier, Amazon Music HD, would be available to all eligible Amazon Music Unlimited subscribers at no extra cost. Subscribers to Unlimited can now upgrade to HD in the US, UK, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, and Spain.