Worries subside as high-end smartphone sales start to pick up, ARM says

From CNET: ARM Holdings, the company that's designed the vast majority of chips found in today's mobile devices, experienced slumping financial performance at the end of 2013, prompting some to wonder if the high-end smartphone market was softening. But now, it appears everything is just fine.

Speaking to Reuters in an interview published on Wednesday, ARM's CFO Tim Score said that his company has witnessed a boost in smartphone demand across the board, and during the second half of 2014, demand and sales should pick up considerably.

ARM announced its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. The company reported $305 million in revenue, jumping 16 percent compared to the same period last year. Its profit was up 9 percent year-over-year. The company also announced that 2.9 billion ARM-based chips were shipped, up 11 percent year-over-year.

The issues ARM experienced during the fourth quarter had much to do with inventory correction, the company reported. Companies had anticipated stronger demand for their products, and had a stockpile of components on the ready to meet that demand. Although the demand slipped for high-end mobile devices, ARM sees that changing in a big way starting next quarter.

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