ARM revenue jumps 21% after cresting Apple, Samsung waves
updated 12:15 pm EST, Tue January 31, 2012
ARM up based on iOS and Android success
ARM benefited from the surge in mobile Tuesday after it saw fall revenue surge 34 percent to the equivalent of $217 million. It credited the gain both to getting more royalties from existing deals as well as to having customers licensing ARM for the first time. Its profits were also up 47 percent.
The successes came mostly on the back of Apple and Samsung, both of whom use ARM's architecture at the hearts of their mobile processors, smartphones, and tablets. Apple's 62 million iOS devices shipped across iPads, iPhones, and iPod touch players in the fall will have been a primary factor. Samsung has estimated that it shipped 35 million smartphones over the same space likewise contributed to the increase by a significant margin.
CEO Warren East in an interview Tuesday explained an optimistic outlook both for 2012 and the future. Windows 8's support for ARM chips will let it infiltrate more traditional computers. Whether or not it meant tablets, ARM could be in as many as 40 percent of mobile computers by 2015, he told Bloomberg in the chat.
Although not official, reports from the CES show floor have hinted that ARM versions of Windows hardware could cost "hundreds" of dollars less, both because of the cheaper processor but also out of reduced needs for chipsets and other supporting components.
