Asus, Acer Among Vendors to Release ARM-Based Notebook PCs

Acer, Toshiba and Asus are among the PC vendors that may roll out notebooks powered by ARM processors by the end of the year, according to reports.

Quoting industry sources, DigiTimes is reporting that those OEMs, as well as Samsung Electronics, are working on notebooks that would be powered by chips using ARM designs and running Google s Android operating system.

The devices would come as ARM officials talk up plans to become a larger player in the mobile PC arena, particularly among notebooks and mini-PCs. It’s part of a larger aggressive push by ARM officials to move their chip designs beyond smartphones and tablets. ARM-designed chips manufactured by the likes of Samsung, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Marvell Technologies and Nvidia currently dominate the rapidly growing smartphone and tablet markets, which x86-based chip-makers Intel and Advanced Micro Devices are trying to enter.

At the same time, ARM is looking to grow into markets dominated by Intel and AMD, in particular mobile PCs and servers.

ARM President Tudor Brown, during a press conference at the Computex 2011 show May 30, said that by the end of the year, he expects his company to command about 15 percent of the mobile PC space, aided by the growth in tablets. By 2015, Brown said, ARM’s market share will be more than 50 percent.

To read the original eWeek article, click here: Acer, Asus, Others Readying ARM-Based Notebooks: Reports