It was good while it lasted, I guess.
Arduino will retain its independent brand, tools, and mission, while continuing to support a wide range of microcontrollers and microprocessors from multiple semiconductor providers as it enters this next chapter within the Qualcomm family. Following this acquisition, the 33M+ active users in the Arduino community will gain access to Qualcomm Technologies’ powerful technology stack and global reach. Entrepreneurs, businesses, tech professionals, students, educators, and hobbyists will be empowered to rapidly prototype and test new solutions, with a clear path to commercialization supported by Qualcomm Technologies’ advanced technologies and extensive partner ecosystem.
↫ Qualcomm’s press release
Qualcomm’s track record when it comes to community engagement, open source, and long-term support are absolutely atrocious, and there’s no way Arduino will be able to withstand the pressures from management. We’ve seen this exact story play out a million times, and it always begins with lofty promises, and always ends with all of them being broken. I have absolutely zero faith Arduino will be able to continue to do its thing like it has.
Arduino devices are incredibly popular, and it makes sense for Qualcomm to acquire them. If I were using Arduino’s for my open source projects, I’d be a bit on edge right now.
It’s dead, then.
Honestly, I migrated to Espressif and STM for hobby projects quite a while ago, but Arduino does have a special place in my heart.
It will painful to watch Qualcomm defile it. And they will do it.
I have begun testing the RP2350 as an alternative for the rare times I need a microcontroller, and so far I haven’t been disappointed. Granted my needs are modest and rare, but it’s nice to know there are lots of alternatives when the inevitable demise of Arduino happens.
Why the gloom?
If qualcomm do close source it. Its currently open source. So anyone can just fork from here. Plenty of clone makers around already producing.
Isnt this the entire premise of open source design? That others use and contribute?
It’s like when Grandpa dies. Sure, Dad is around, but it’s still sad. Arduino will be missed.
Enterprises like this need a coordinating entity at the top to ultimately set direction for future development.
Sure you can clone and produce the current designs (as is already common, I think) but Qualcomm will certainly crush the open community-focused drive forward that Arduino has done (relatively) well for many years.
Networking effect: when OSS projects gets bigger, it’s management structure grows with it along with increases in community.
This can’t be easily replaced by a fork unless the one doing the fork has the resources and mindshare to replicate (of sorts) the previous management structure.
You can fork the code, but you can’t fork the people behind it, that may scatter around, gives up, and so on.
What could possibly go wrong?
The had recently acquired vmware. The products are still around. They only dropped “cheap” customers who spend less than half a million per year. Broke all existing licensing agreement that were advantageous to customers and jacked up prices.
Arduino? Just the largest platform for hobbyists and education. Much more beginner friendly than Raspberry Pi, with Arduino Studio, Scratch and massive curriculum support.
Again, what could possibly go wrong?
sukru,
I agree. Arduino managed to cultivate the DIY community with affordable beginner friendly products. There’s no reason qualcomm couldn’t technically continue this tradition, but…it’s just not in their DNA. I’m very skeptical of their motives. Qualcomm acquiring brands we like seems more likely to make those brands worse than to make Qualcomm better. I wish it hadn’t happened, but this is the corporate way things work: greedy companies acquire everyone else to put more squeeze on consumers.
Selling out to a giant corp for lots of cash makes sense for those who are selling, but customers are usually the losers in these transactions. Look over at what’s happening with xbox, microsoft buying control of game companies and jacking up prices. One of several reasons to be wary of corporate takeovers.
Alfman,
I’m failing to see the “synergy” here. I know it is a cliche word, but when the acquired company actually is aligned with the new owners there is a mutually beneficial growth.
Like Android back in the day. Or Double Fine by Microsoft. In both cases they got creative freedom and a lot of financial support (I’m not talking about Android of today. But it is unlikely they would have survived so far)
Yet…
In case of this merger, I’m not sure what is the benefit to Qualcomm from Ardunio. Which means they are not buying to expand the product, which makes me wary.
I see your point, but VMware was acquired by Broadcom.
jurmcc,
Ouch, you are right. With my quick release of disappointment, I mixed the two up.
Arduino have already kinda moved their focus towards enterprise solutions, so I doubt the change here will be as big as people think. Or put another way: the change people feared already happened a while ago.
Also: many (truly hobby focused) alternatives have sprung up int the last decade, partly as a reaction to Arduino focusing on enterprise.
It really is interesting how often we see the trajectory of hobby/enthusiast companies eventually giving way to enterprise version of that market!