

ARM was European. Until its shareholders agreed for it to be acquired by SoftBank.
That’s a large part of the problem, I think: shareholders and “number must go up!” mentality can change a company’s nation of ownership/influence overnight. And a private European company can choose to go public on a foreign stock exchange (eg. Spotify).
If a viable competitor to Intel or AMD was to come into being in Europe, there’s currently nothing* stopping its shareholders selling the company to non-European venture capital whenever they want (eg. ARM).
*There is usually a competition or monopoly regulator, but they typically have no teeth, have been captured by industry interests, or have to bow to political pressure.




Prompted by this, TIL that !chargeyourphone@piefed.social exists. 😄