"Where the mobile and smartphone market is right now was more like the PC industry in the late '80s and '90s," McCarron said.

A number of architectures -- including Apple's early Motorola 68000 and Intel's x86 -- were competing to be at the core of PCs at that time. Similarly, a number of architectures are gunning for mobile devices right now.

"That's why you are seeing so much effort put forth by such companies," McCarron said. "If you get your technology entrenched, you will be reaping rewards for years."

The company's success ultimately hinges on power consumption, performance, pricing and software support, McCarron said.