Microsoft Signs Licensing Deal for Arm Chip Technology

Microsoft has signed an important new agreement to license technology for the Arm microprocessor, according to Infoworld.

The deal opens up the possibility that Microsoft could design its own Arm-based chips in the future.


"We have licensed our architecture and our instruction set to Microsoft," said Ian Drew, executive vice president of marketing at Arm. "This type of license allows you to design your own microarchitecture."

Only a few select companies such as Qualcomm, Marvell, and Infineon hold similar licenses. "As an architectural licensee, Microsoft wants to go public about adding itself to that short list," Drew said.

"Arm is an important partner for Microsoft and we deliver multiple operating systems on the company's architecture, most notably Windows Embedded and Windows Phone," Microsoft said in a statement.