ARM Q1: Profits up, 2.6 billion ARM-based chips shipped

Summary: The British chip designer continues to exceed expections, thanks to a continued uptake in smartphone and tablet devices, while other chip makers are struggling in the PC sector.

British chip designer ARM said it shipped 2.6 billion chips based on its designs during the first quarter, thanks to an explosion in smartphone and tablet uptake.

ARM said it generated £89.4 million ($129.5m) in profit — up 44 percent — on revenue of £170.3 million ($263.9m), or 5.31 pence (8.1 cents) per share (statement).

Cash-wise, the company had £562.4 million ($857.9m) in the coffers, up 8 percent increase during the quarter.

The company, which licenses its processor designs to chip makers, reported a 33 percent in royalty revenue year-over-year during the quarter, thanks to a surge in Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple's iPhone 5 sales. 

(Image: ARM)

The company's results today are based on the final three months of 2012, giving an indication of how the smartphone and tablet market is playing out during the December holiday season, where sales of technology goods are typically up.

(Image: ARM)

ARM chief executive officer Warren East said in a prepared statement:

ARM has delivered another quarter of strong revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust licensing and record royalty revenue.

Everyday devices are becoming smarter, more connected and more energy efficient, which is increasing the applicability of and demand for ARM’s technology. In particular, this quarter ARM saw strong uptake of its next generation, higher royalty-bearing ARMv8, Mali and big.LITTLE technology for smartphones and mobile computers.

Looking ahead, ARM said it had made an "encouraging start" to the new fiscal year and expects group revenues for the full-year 2013 to be in line with current market expectations. The company did note that industry data for the first quarter suggests a sequential decrease in industry-wide revenues of around 10 percent.

http://www.zdnet.com/arm-q1-profits-up-2-6-billion-arm-based-chips-shipped-7000014399/