STOCKS NEWS EUROPE-ARM up; broker sees Google effect

Shares in ARM (ARM.L) gain 3 percent following news earlier this week of Google Inc's (GOOG.O) bid to compete with Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) windows operating system with its own Chrome Operating System, which Goldman Sachs says should help ARM-based competitors.

Goldman Sachs sees implications not only for Google and Microsoft, but also for the hardware space and semi companies such as Intel (INTC.O), ARM, and ARM-based chip providers as the Chrome OS runs on ARM as well as x86 chip.

"Google's entry into the market could represent a threat to Intel and x86," says the broker.

The broker says this could open "the door to ARM-based competitors including Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Freescale, Nvidia, Marvell and Broadcom, thereby accelerating ARM's potential in the fast growing product categories of Netbooks."

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