ARM: Smartphone Sales Drop, but Recovery Is Coming

Kevin Fogarty, EETimes
4/23/2014 06:33 PM EDT

Smartphone chip giant ARM Holdings, PLC reported slightly disappointing financial results for the first quarter of 2014 due to what it called an "inventory correction" following a global dip in smartphone sales during the final months of 2013.

The number of smartphones shipped worldwide during 2013 topped 1 billion for the first time, but global sales grew only 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to market research firm IDC, which had expected to see an increase of 2.8% in unit sales during the period.

The 1,004.2 million smartphones shipped during the full year 2013 was 4.8% higher than 2012, but the unexpected dip left ARM resellers and chip-design licensees with unsold inventory that not only caused first-quarter sales to slow, but raised fears that the market for smartphones had become saturated and would begin to decline, according to an April 23 Reuters story.

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