The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is conducting an investigation into the $40 billion takeover deal between Nvidia and Arm Holdings.
The CMA announced an investigation into the deal between US graphics chip specialist Nvidia and Japan's Softbank Group in September 2019 to take over UK computer chip designer Arm Holdings.
CMA investigation
The UK's competition watchdog are asking "interested third parties" to comment on the possible impact of the merger on competition in the country.
Arm's technology can be found in most smartphones and other devices and its designs serve as the foundation for processors produced by Apple, Samsung, Sony and Huawei.
According to the CMA, it is examining whether Arm Holdings would gain an incentive to withdraw, raise prices or lower the quality of its intellectual property licensing services to Nvidia's rivals following the takeover.
CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli said: "The chip technology industry is worth billions, and critical to many of the products that we use most in our everyday lives."
"We will work closely with other competition authorities around the world to carefully consider the impact of the deal and ensure that it doesn't ultimately result in consumers facing more expensive, or lower quality, products," Coscelli claimed.
Calls to halt the merger
Last year, an open letter to the UK prime minister was signed by over 2,000 business leaders urging him to stop the merger and save UK jobs and influence. In response, Nvidia assured that the Arm business based in the UK will be retained, more staff will be hired and the Arm brand will stay unchanged.
Nvidia claimed that the merger would form "the premier computing company for the age of artificial intelligence".
It added: "We believe the approval process will take about 18 months from when we signed the deal. The regulatory process is confidential and we won't be providing comment on milestones along the way."
Nvidia and Fortnite
Also last year, Nvidia confirmed its partnership with Epic Games to bring back Fortnite to iPhones via its GeForce Now service.
To circumvent Apple’s ban on Fortnite on its App Store, Epic Games partnered with Nvidia to make the popular battle royale online video game available thru the GeForce Now service, which can be accessed by iPhone users via the Safari web browser.
Unlike Android devices, Apple prohibits games or other apps to be installed on to its phones or tablets via app stores other than its own. However, it does not have restrictions on which third-party services can be run within Safari or other web browsers available on its store.
The GeForce Now cloud service is available on Mac, Windows, Android and Chromebook computers and is usually used to stream PC games over the internet without having to install them.
This enables users to play games on-the-go by using a keyboard, mouse and/or controller if they have a stable internet connection. However, on iOS devices, using a controller is usually the only way.
The integration of touch controls into the Safari-based version would mean Nvidia would need to make changes to the Fortnite that usually runs on PCs. This is why the company said it “will delay availability of the game”.
Nvidia explained: “While the GeForce Now library is best experienced on mobile with a gamepad, touch is how over 100 million Fortnite gamers have built, battled and danced their way to victory.”
