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ZDNET Highlights
- Qualcomm is acquiring Arduino but allowing it to operate independently.
- The new Qualcomm-powered UNO Q is available for $44.
- Qualcomm is a huge player in the SBC space, beating out the Raspberry Pi.
Chip and modem manufacturer Qualcomm has announced It plans to acquire Arduino, the Italian open-source hardware and software company that is home to many homebrew and industrial interactive electronics projects.
Coinciding with the announcement of the acquisition, Arduino launched UNO Q, a single-board computer (SBC) powered by a Qualcomm chip.
Also: Raspberry Pi Alternatives: The Best Single Board Computer for Your Next Home Project
According to Qualcomm, the Arduino deal will “supercharge developer productivity across industries (and) preserve its open approach and community spirit while unlocking a full-stack platform for modern development.”
Qualcomm said the 33 million active Arduino community users will get access to Qualcomm Technologies’ technology stack and global reach and “a clear path to commercialization.” The company is also very keen to point out that Arduino will retain its brand and mission and is fully behind Qualcomm’s open source ethos.
UNO Q is quite a powerhouse. At its core is the Qualcomm Dragonwing QRB2210 chip, which combines a quad-core Kryo CPU clocked at up to 2.0 GHz and an Adreno 702 GPU clocked at 845 MHz. It also has 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 16GB of eMMC storage and can take advantage of Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1.
There is an 8×13 blue LED matrix on the board that can be controlled using code. There are also 47 digital I/O pins along with six analog inputs, making it a very capable single-board computer.
The board is available for pre-order digiki For $44.
Also: The most powerful Raspberry Pi just launched with some serious RAM and an RGB keyboard
Arduino is already a significant player in the SBC market, with boards like uno r4like with competitors Android, beagleboard, Orange PieAnd … raspberry Pi,
So far, the Raspberry Pi has not faced much serious competition; However, with Qualcomm throwing out $42.8 billion in revenue versus the Raspberry Pi (with its $346.5 million revenue), things may be changing. Previously, Arduino had a turnover of about $140 million, so it was a very small fish.
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I don’t think there’s a need to worry too much about the Raspberry Pi in the short to medium term. It is a well-established name and is doing a lot of new things at the moment. But Qualcomm is a big company, and having such a big player enter an area in such a dramatic manner will undoubtedly raise eyebrows at the Raspberry Pi Foundation.
