Marvell ThunderX: Reorientation towards custom CPU solutions

Marvell ThunderX

Marvell withdraws from the classic market with ARM server processors and now only wants to build custom solutions. The manufacturer emphasizes that this is the strength of ARM in the server, but in return this also means that the company has seen no chance against classic x86 solutions in their environment in the future.

And so the manufacturer emphasizes the advantages of ARM, to be able to respond more easily to the wishes of customers and to adapt the solutions especially for them. This experience is not new, ARM’s strength has never been off the shelf, but explicitly for data centers at Facebook, Google & Co.. Intel and AMD have also recognized this from the x86 group and provide customized solutions for major customers. Since ARM still has no chance in the classic market against x86, the decision of Marvell is logical.

A significant amount of unique arm server processor IP and technology we have developed over the last few years is ideal to create the custom processors hyperscalers are requesting. Therefore, we have decided to target future investments in the ARM server market, exclusively on custom solutions.

Marvell introduced ThunderX3 in the spring, and ThunderX4 already showed on roadmaps for 2022.