10 billion ARM processors now in use worldwide

There are some 10 billion ARM mobile processors in use around the world, according to figures released by the Cambridge-based chip maker -- that’s over one and a half processors for every person in the world. And before mobile phone owners start wondering where their half a chip is, it’s worth bearing in mind that ARM’s processors are used in everything from iPods to HD TVs to Wi-Fi routers.

ARM was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple and VLSI technology. The original goal was to develop the immensely powerful (in 1990 terms) Acorn RISC chip that was first used in the revolutionary, but not terribly successful, Acorn Archimedes desktop computer, but the low-power 32-bit processors proved far more valuable to the booming mobile device market.

ARM developed its first embedded RISC ARM6 processor in 1991 and around three billion are now shipped each ear. ARM doesn’t actually manufacturer any processors itself – it merely licenses the technology to its partners, of which there are 476 at the moment, including Toshiba, Texas Instruments, Samsung and nVidia.

[ ARM]