ARM posts 18 per cent rise in quarterly profits on strong mobile performance

British chip designer ARM Holdings has posted an 18 per cent rise in quarterly revenues after strong licensing activity in the mobile and embedded market segments.

Revenues reached £117.8m on the quarter, an increase of 18 per cent on the 2010 quarter and a boost of 27 per cent when adjusted for US dollars. Profits were reported at £54.2m, up some 25 per cent on the year.

ARM said that it had secured 29 new processor licences over the quarter, driving licencing revenue to £36.3m, up 53 per cent on the same period in 2010.

"In the first half of 2011, we have seen strong licence revenues driven by an increase in design activity around ARM technology across a broad range of end applications," said ARM chief executive Warren East.

"Major semiconductor vendors and consumer electronics companies are making long-term commitments to using ARM technology in their future product developments, underpinning growth in ARM's long-term royalty revenues."

Overall, ARM said that the mobile and embedded segments saw the strongest growth. Mobile unit shipments were up 58 per cent, while embedded unit shipments increased by 22 per cent.

ARM's report comes amid a mixed bag of results for chipmakers and mobile hardware vendors. Apple credited strong mobile hardware sales with helping to drive record profits, while Nokia and RIM lost ground in the market.

Intel, which is hoping to challenge ARM's dominant position in the mobile space with its Atom platform, recently cited double-digit growth across all business units with a record $13.1bn quarter.