NEW YORKSAN FRANCISCO, Aug 22 Reuters A scramble among Arm Holdings Ltd39;s clients, comprising the world39;s biggest technology companies, to snap up shares in its initial public offering IPO is testing the semiconductor designer39;s adherence to not picking sides in the chip industry.

Customers of Arm that have held talks about taking a piece of the IPO include Apple, Amazon.com, Intel, Nvidia, Alphabet, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics and TSMC, Reuters has reported. Arm is hoping for a valuation of up to 70 billion in the IPO, which will launch on the Nasdaq next month.

These companies39; interest is fueled by a desire to expand their commercial relationship with Arm, and make sure that their rivals do not gain an edge, according to people familiar with the discussions.

This is because Arm39;s customers view its semiconductor designs as an indispensable resource. They are used by more than 260 technology companies to make over 30 billion chips annually, powering 99 of the worlds smartphones and everything from the tiniest of sensors to the most powerful supercomputers.

While an IPO investment would not come with a seat on Arm39;s board or ability to dictate strategy, it could strengthen ties with each participating company and make it harder for a competitor to acquire Arm later, according to the sources.

These guys want to be able to feed their technology needs back into Arm, so that their needs get put into Arm39;s intellectual property, said Jack Gold, founder…