1st Mar 2012 17:36
ARM HOLDINGS PLC
1 March 2012
For immediate release
Publication of ARM Holdings plc's Annual Report 2011
ARM Holdings plc announces that on 1 March 2012 it published its Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2011 on the company's website at www.arm.com/ir. The Annual Report has also been sent to the National Storage Mechanism of the UK Financial Services Authority.
A hard copy of the Annual Report 2011 is being sent to those shareholders who have elected to continue to receive paper communications. A hard copy of the Circular incorporating Notice of the Annual General Meeting to be held on 3 May 2012 is also being sent to all shareholders at their addresses on the register.
The unaudited Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2011 were announced on 31 January 2012.
In accordance with the requirements of Rule 4.1 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the UK Financial Services Authority, Appendix 1 to this announcement contains a description of the principal risks and uncertainties affecting the Group and Appendix 2 contains a Directors' responsibility statement.
ARM Holdings plc also announces that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission an Annual Report on Form 20-F including audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2011.
All of these documents are available online at ARM's website at www.arm.com/ir and the Annual Report on Form 20-F is also available at www.sec.gov.
Shareholders are able to request a hard copy of the 2011 Annual Report free of charge, subject to availability, as follows:
UK - by calling +44(0) 1628 427850 or writing to ARM Holdings plc, Liberty House, Moorbridge Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 8LT UK.
US - by calling 1-800-555-2470 or writing to Proxy Services Corporation at 200A Executive Drive, Edgewood, NY 11717 USA.
Patricia Alsop
Company Secretary
1 March 2012
Appendix 1
Principal risks and uncertainties
1. About half of ARM's revenue comes from direct licence sales to semiconductor companies. If there are fewer semiconductor companies, then ARM may have fewer customers to sell to. ARM is exposed to a range of markets including wireless handsets and microcontrollers. Consolidation in these parts of the industry could represent a loss to ARM's future licensing business.
2. ARM is developing more functionally capable products and our technology is becoming more widely deployed in a broad range of end markets. Developing technology has an inherent risk of patent infringement, and the success of the ARM Partnership may encourage a patent owner to make a claim against ARM or one of our customers.
3. The main processor in a laptop is typically based on the x86 architecture. It has been announced that smaller and lower-power x86-based chips are being developed that will be suitable for the main processor in a smartphone. There is therefore competition from large companies that have demonstrated advanced technology and have well-funded marketing strategies. They are capable of reducing ARM's market share in smartphone application processors and hindering any market share gains that might be made by ARM licensees in mobile computing.
4. It could be difficult for ARM to be successful in the microcontroller market. ARM will need to displace many established in-house processor designs. ARM has invested a lot of effort and cost to achieve modest penetration to date. As the microcontroller chips are low-cost, the royalty revenue per device is also lower than other markets.
5. Currently, most major chip companies develop their physical IP using their in-house teams. Even for companies that have outsourced manufacturing, the rate at which they want to licence in physical IP is unclear. The foundries may choose to develop the physical IP. This could add more value to their customers and help create 'lock-in' by making it harder for the customer to change foundry. There are also other physical IP suppliers who compete in this market, some with a similar scale and scope to ARM.
A more detailed description of the risks facing the company is included in the Annual Report on Form 20-F.
Appendix 2
Directors' Responsibility Statement
Each of the directors whose names and functions are listed below, confirm that, to the best of each person's knowledge and belief:
1. The financial statements for the Group, prepared in accordance with IFRS as adopted by the European Union (UK GAAP for the Company) give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Group and the Company; and
2. The directors' report and the financial review in the Annual Report include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and the Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.
Name Function
Doug Dunn Chairman
Warren East Chief Executive Officer
Tim Score Chief Financial Officer
Tudor Brown President
Mike Inglis EVP & General Manager Processor Division
Mike Muller Chief Technology Officer
Simon Segars EVP & General Manager Physical IP Division
Andy Green Independent Non-Executive Director
Larry Hirst Independent Non-Executive Director
Kathleen O'Donovan Senior Independent Director
Janice Roberts Independent Non-Executive Director
Philip Rowley Independent Non-Executive Director
Young Sohn Independent Non-Executive Director
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