ARM chief executive Warren East to step down, president Simon Segars to take reins

The chief executive of ARM, Warren East, has announced he will retire from the firm this summer, having served as the head of the company for almost 12 years.

ARM confirmed that Simon Segars, current president of ARM, will take over as the new chief executive from 1 July, when East officially steps down.

East will leave ARM in a strong position in the semi-conductor market, where it is currently beating industry giants such as Intel in providing the technology for chips in mobile phones, boasting some 300 semiconductor customers and nine billion chip sales in 2012.

"It has been a privilege to lead ARM during such a momentous and exciting time for our industry and I am proud of what the ARM team of employees and partners has achieved together while I have been chief executive," said East.

His role at the top was praised by the chairman of ARM, John Buchanan, for helping drive the huge growth the firm has seen over the past decade.

"East has transformed ARM during his time as chief executive. In 2001 ARM had one processor product line found mainly in mobile phones. Now ARM provides the broadest portfolio of technologies in the industry," he said.

"During Warren's tenure the company has received royalties for over 40 billion ARM-based chips. As CEO he has created a strong platform for growth and consistently created value for shareholders even in a challenging external environment."

East's latest push within the company was on servers, explaining at an event in late 2012 that he believes there is huge growth in this area relating to improving the efficiency of servers used in datacentres.