Comment by GeorgeTirebiter

I thought so, too. The Cortex M0+ is quite nice. RPi Pico RP2040 (original) https://pip-assets.raspberrypi.com/categories/610-raspberry-... uses them, and with the RPi on-chip math help (clever stuff) it's quite the joy for your toaster or microwave oven project. RV32EC is 'ok' but the weirdly reduced register set to save a few dozen transistors seems like out-of-control hardware guys without any software supervision - the bane of this industry.

Now-a-days, I actively avoid RVxxx Zwhatever because those guys had their chance and seemed to have learned nothing from the IBM 360: SOFTWARE is what ultimately matters, as long as you don't have ridiculously expensive chips, keep the ABI consistent!

And, ARM learned from M0 and quickly came out with the M0+ --- which SHOULD be the 8051 killer (no offense to my friend John Wharton (RIP), 8051 designer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison_Wharton): M0+ is a lower-power, more efficient redesign of M0, 2-stage pipeline, Harvard bus, and optional features (MPU, MTB, fast I/O) that M0 lacks. The RPi Pico has all of these optional features except the MTB (Micro Trace Buffer), but does have 4 breakpoints / 2 watchpoints per core, 8 memory regions, single-cycle I/O port access, 30% less power than M0, and 12% less die area, 32x32 single-cycle multiply, Thumb-2: "32‑bit Performance at 8‑bit Cost" https://documentation-service.arm.com/static/60411750ee93794...

Maybe certain Chinese RV32E variants will get uber popular (WCH CH32V003 under a dime in quantity https://wch-ic.com/products/CH32V003.html ). Maybe.