Microsoft may be developing its own in-house ARM CPU designs:
This afternoon, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft is in the process of developing its own ARM CPU designs, following in the footsteps of Apple's M1 mobile CPU and Amazon's Graviton datacenter CPU.
Bloomberg cites off-record conversations with Microsoft employees who didn't want to be named. These sources said that Microsoft is currently developing an ARM processor for data center use and exploring the possibility of another for its Surface line of mobile PCs.
[...] Even if Bloomberg's report proves 100 percent accurate, the end result is likely to follow Amazon's lead much more closely than Apple's. Although Amazon tightened its supply chain by producing its own Graviton hardware, its software ecosystem remains open—without solid Linux operating system support, a server's future in a data center is very poor indeed. Microsoft would face the same challenges with a data center-focused product, and for the same reasons—although the "less likely" Surface ecosystem would be considerably less constrained.