Sure, I'm glad you actually replied and did so seriously. So here's what I have to say first about ARM, then about Nvidia.
ARM is not a healthy company. Softbank has been trying to divest, partly because ARM struggles to make a profit, but mainly because Softbank has lost a lot of money in recent years and needs to unload assets as they are bleeding. It was Softbank that shopped ARM around, and it turns out only Nvidia made an offer for that company. ARM is, as you say, essential to the world in much the same way Windows is. But the reality is that ARM was never financially very sound, because the very licensing model which allowed them to become the designs for a vast numbers of the world's microchips also prevented them from profiting from the designs of those very same chips. It's not an exaggeration that the world's successful companies who license ARM designs, including Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, and yes Microsoft, are in many ways leveraging the fact that ARM is perpetually unable to profit from their designs and near bankruptcy all the time in order to make massive profits themselves. ARM is both essential the world's most valuable companies and also simultaneously treated as serfs who give them their essential designs for basically nothing.
Nvidia is, on the other hand, a very healthy company. In the top 10 of the world's most valuable companies by market cap, as it turns out. They have the financial wherewithal to actually own ARM and not be worried about bankruptcy. In terms of what companies could possibly own ARM and pass antitrust muster: There aren't any. That's why when Softbank shopped ARM around, nobody made an offer except Nvidia. Because they knew they would never be able to complete the acquisition. It was a long shot that Nvidia even made an offer, and accepted the scrutiny that resulted. In the end, Nvidia did not acquire, ARM is still perpetually near bankruptcy, and now apparently Softbank are going to through with an attempt at an IPO.
What would be worse for the chip industry? An ARM held by Nvidia, who have made every promise that they will not favor themselves, change the licensing terms, or do anything unfair? Well, that ship has sailed. So what we have now is an ARM which continues to struggle to survive even though their chip designs are in over 2 billion devices around the world, which is a a patently absurd state of affairs. Softbank really thinks they will IPO it, and get this, ARM is now trying to shore up their finances to look better for IPO by asking Qualcomm et. al to pay a licensing fee based on value per device sold instead of per chip sold. A chip probably sells for $10-40, a device sells for a minimum of $100 and most flagship phones sell for $1000+. So guess what, everyone's now looking at terms which are worse than they would have faced from an ARM being owned and subsidized by Nvidia by orders of magnitude. Quite ironic for the chip industry, wouldn't you agree? Qualcomm and everyone probably shouldn't have objected to the Nvidia acquisition, now ARM is demanding a fair share of profits so they can make a profit and look good for an IPO.
this is complete crazy talk.
