More power to ARM Holdings as profits jump to £30 million

ARM Holdings, the microchip designer whose shares have surged thanks to its products being chosen for the iPad and smartphones, today said its fourth-quarter profits jumped 72% to £29.7 million.

The company is being seen as a potentially serious rival to US behemoth Intel as tablet computers take over from traditional desktop PCs in the global sales growth race.

Even Microsoft, which has worked with Intel for decades, has chosen ARM for its new generation of tablets and smartphones.

ARM chief executive Warren East said that the company received royalties in the fourth quarter on 1.8 billion chips that were made using its design technology.

However, he offered some caution that semiconductor industry sales in 2011 would probably be more "typical" than the astronomical year which has just gone.