Smartphone Resurgence Boosts ARM Results

ARM has recorded a significant return to profit after the company enjoyed a surge in demand for its latest technology.

The Cambridge-based firm beat analyst expectations to record a 22 percent rise in revenues compared to the same quarter last year, resulting in a 14 percent growth in profits, as its mobile and Internet of Things businesses saw a major boost in activity.

Prime amongst this was the increased demand in the company’s Cortex technology for many of the leading flagship smartphones of the past few months, including the LG G5 and Samsung Galaxy S7 devices launched at Mobile World Congress earlier this year.

On the up

Overall, ARM reported that 4.1 billion ARM-based chips shipped in the quarter, up 10 percent year-on-year, as the company signed 39 processor licences with 27 companies in the period.

The company was particularly pleased to highlight the performance of its ARMv8-A technology, which should keep royalties ticking over for the remainder of the year as it is licensed to mobile and M2M manufacturers.

However, the company still warned against global macro-economic uncertainty during the remainder of 2016, which could lead to poorer results down the line as this “influence(s) consumer and enterprise spending in 2016, potentially impacting semiconductor sales and industry confidence.”

The company also revealed that its workforce had expanded over the past 12 months, numbering a total of 4,064 full-time employees globally, including 1,609 in the UK.

“Devices are increasingly being improved by first becoming digital, and then smart, and then connected,” said ARM CEO Simon Segars.

“This is generating huge amounts of data that needs to be protected, transmitted, managed and stored across the internet. These trends are creating fantastic opportunities for ARM and our Partners. They are driving our licensing, as more companies need access to smart processors to build intelligence into more products, and they will drive future royalty revenue as more consumers and enterprises choose to buy smarter and more connected products.”

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