Full-year figures from ARM Holdings suggest that the weakness revealed at Imagination Technologies, its rival chip designer, this week were specific to that company rather than indicating any structural problem in the semi-conductor market or with supplying Apple.
The market’s reaction to the ARM figures was instructive, though, the shares veering all over the place but ending down 41p at 899p. Some concern was over the growth in processor royalties, made when the company’s chips are shipped to manufacturers of smartphones and the like. A 31 per cent rise in the fourth quarter translated into one of only 24 per cent if you stripped out some catch-up payments from one client and was below the 37 per cent in the third quarter.
ARM was quite