The 1074K is scalable up to 1.5GHz and is capable of multithreading, which the company claims will give it a leg up on Arm processors, which do not implement multithreading.

MIPS Technologies is primarily known for its embedded processors, and it has a strong presence in segments such as networking and wireless communications. The company's processors are also used in television sets, Blu-ray players, set-top boxes and handheld gaming devices. Like Arm, the company licenses its processor designs to chip makers.

The company also has a small presence in the netbook space. A netbook sold in China called Lemote uses a chip based on a MIPS design. The Institute of Computing Technology, a government-backed agency in China, is also building a supercomputer called the Dawning 6000 with server chips based on MIPS architecture.

It will be a challenge for MIPS to take market share from Arm, whose chips go into most smartphones today, said Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight 64. MIPS will also have to contend with Intel, which is trying to push its Atom processor into tablets and smartphones.

"Intel's strong in PCs, Arm is strong in mobile, and MIPS says they own the living room. Now everyone wants to get in each other's turf," Brookwood said.