Yeah, x86 is so open only Intel and AMD can legally design and manufacture chips on that architecture. Aside from a Chinese company that slowly reverse engineers it (currently it's on Intel 8th Gen level).

As opposed to ARM, which anyone can design, modify, or just use existing designs for a comparably small fee. And anyone can manufacture ARM chips, too, given they have the necessary resources. In practice it most likely means hiring a company to manufacture chips.

In the entire history of electronics there was never any technology that was immediately standardized. It always takes time. If we wanted to stick to already existing standards, we'd still be using things like the i386 or older.

The main problem with ARM is lack of a UEFI equivalent, which is currently becoming available (ARM SystemReady).

It's up to individual vendors whether or not to participate. So far adoption is pretty much ubiquitous in the server space, but not nearly as spread in consumer devices. I'd say this is because a lot of companies aren't interested in giving people the ability to change software on their phones or tablets (with proposed or already present legislation all around the world to help limit this as well).

An example of a laptop certified for ARM SystemReady is the ThinkPad X13s (Snapdragon 8cx gen 3). All you need to do to install a custom OS is enable Linux boot in the bios, and boot up any installation media. Drivers are in the kernel; no need for a custom iso or anything.

Being a standardized, essentially open platform means you don't have to built it in silicone anymore. Frame runs x86 great on ARM.