Samsung Eyes a Dive Into Lucrative Server Chip Market

From DailyTech: The list of server chipmakers developing solutions based on ARM Holdings plc's (LON:ARM) proprietary reduced instruction set computer (RISC) architecture is growing. After announcements last year from the startup Calxeda -- an ARM Holdings subsidiary that is targeting low-power niche servers -- Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) rocked the market with last week's announcement that it would be making ARM-based Opterons, utilizing ARM's new 64-bit Cortex-A50 intellectual property core.

Now analyst rumblings suggest that Samsung Electronics Comp., Ltd. (KSC:005930) may be preparing a new line of 64-bit ARM server chips to be deployed in 2014.

The rumors come after Samsung licensed ARM's new Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57 intellectual property cores. The decision to license the Cortex-A57 was particularly interesting, given that ARM Holdings indicated it was a higher-performance core aimed largely at the server market.

Currently, Samsung produces a line of smartphone and tablet processors under the brand name Exynos. These ARM-based chips are produced at Samsung's in-house fabs and almost entirely go into Samsung's own smartphone and tablet designs. But Samsung is diversifying away from just tablets/smartphones.

It's working on potential Windows RT devices and recently unveiled a $249 USD Exynos 5 Dual (5250) based "ChromeBook". The new ChromeBook is a joint effort with Google Inc. (GOOG) and runs Google's new "Aura" user interface.

Simple financial figures would suggest ample incentive for Samsung to expand its efforts into server chips. While chipmaking tends to be a relatively low margin business, by nature, server chips sports some of the biggest profit returns in the industry, albeit being difficult to design.

More concrete clues to Samsung's potential aspirations come from the company's recruitment of Pat Patla to its growing team of chip design engineers at a new expansion of its Texas faculties. Mr. Patla was formerly the general manager and vice president of server processors at AMD.

View: Article @ Source Site