Arm vs. RISC-V in 2025: Which Architecture Will Lead the Way?

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RISC-V's advantages–customizability, scalability, and cost-effectiveness–make it a strong competitor to Arm.

eetimes.eu, Dec. 24, 2024 – 

Could the fifth generation of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) dethrone the long-established advanced RISC machine (Arm) and x86 architectures? While the discussion about Arm versus RISC-V is hotly debated, the benefits of this open standard cannot be overlooked. How soon could it achieve market dominance?

RISC-V is poised to reshape the chip landscape

RISC-V is rapidly gaining momentum. If current trends continue, it may surpass long-standing proprietary architectures like x86 and Arm. Some trendsetters have already embraced the latest instruction set architecture (ISA).

For instance, Nvidia's existing graphics processing units are managed by up to 40 custom RISC-V cores developed in-house, depending on complexity. The company began transitioning away from proprietary microcontrollers in 2015, just five years after the open-standard ISA was introduced. Industry giants such as Google, Qualcomm, and Samsung have made similar moves.

For decades, proprietary ISAs have arguably stifled R&D progress. One of RISC-V's advantages is that it facilitates collaborative solutions and encourages cost-effective experimentation, which in turn fosters innovation. Organizations no longer have to be held back by proprietary chip designers' slow-moving product roadmaps.

A change like this would have enormous implications for global chip fabrication capacity and supply. For instance, according to the European Strategy and Policy Analysis System, it could propel the EU's share of global chip revenue, which dropped from about 20% in the 1990s to less than 10% in the 2020s.

Why is RISC-V gaining significant momentum?

The RISC-V ISA may even demand volatility resistance. Widespread supply chain disruptions have paralyzed the semiconductor industry in recent years, and trade tensions between market leaders have risen. For example, China banned exports of gallium, antimony, and germanium to the U.S. in December 2024. Companies and governments are now rethinking their reliance on proprietary chip designs...

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