"This move by ARM is recognition of the limits of [its current business model] and the need to invest to expand beyond PC and mobile into the multitude of consumer home, building, car and other platforms emerging in the IoT," said Mark Skilton, a professor of practice at Warwick Business School, via email. "Investment in the IoT requires both software and hardware development skills to embed 'smart' into mobile devices, car, buildings, and everyday objects that that few companies have in both areas. Telecoms companies have had an interesting challenge to position the vital network 'glue' to connect all these devices and services, but seek a bigger part of the market share." [See 10 IoT Startups You Need to Know .] Not all of SoftBank's acquisitions have borne fruit. The company has invested tens of billions of dollars in Sprint, which has in turn continually weighed down SoftBank's financial performance.