ARM, the Cambridge-based chip designer, has posted higher than expected first quarter financial results, citing strong demand for its new chip design in tablets and smartphones for the growth.
The firm posted first quarter revenues of £170m, a rise of 29 per cent compared with the same period last year. Pre-tax profits for ARM were also good, up 31 per cent year-on-year to almost £62m.
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Chips based on ARM architectures are supplied to technology giants including Apple and Samsung. Demand for mobile chips is up by a quarter compared with 2012. Overall, 2.6 billion ARM-based chips were shipped during the first quarter, a 35 per cent increase on the previous year.
"ARM has delivered another quarter of strong revenue and earnings growth, driven by robust licensing and record royalty revenue," said ARM CEO Warren East, who is set to retire later this year.
"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," he continued.
"ARM's royalty revenues again outpaced the wider semiconductor industry. This outperformance has been driven by market share gains in key end markets including digital TVs and microcontrollers. In addition, the growth in smartphones and tablets continues to benefit ARM.
"Even low-cost smart devices can contain multiple ARM-based chips and be based on ARM's advanced Cortex-A series technology and Mali graphics processors," East added.
ARM's outlook for Q2 and the rest of 2013 is expected to be "in line with current market expectations."
Shares in the Cambridge chip designer jumped by eight per cent following the release of its financial report, rising 70p to 940p per share, making ARM the biggest riser In the FTSE 100.
