ARM: A 'generation ahead' of Intel?

At a press conference at Computex 2013, a senior ARM executive has claimed that Intel is trailing behind in comparison to ARM's designs.

Noel Hurley, VP of ARM’s Processor Division, also said that as ARM makes the transition to 20nm and 16nm/14nm sizes, the chip maker would continue to stay one step ahead, as reported by Techeye. Hurley commented:

"Our leadership will increase in the future. ARM platforms are more than a generation ahead [of Intel]. Eighty four percent of the top 25 free games use ARM native code."

In addition to the claim that ARM will outstrip Intel in the future, the executive said that as the rival firm turns to emulation, the company will discover how much power is burned -- and this will play into ARM's hands. According to Hurley, the ARM A15 28nm processor "outstrips" Intel's 22nm Finfet transistors.

The British chip designer shipped 2.6 billion chips based on its designs during Q1 2013, thanks to an explosion in smartphone and tablet adoption. ARM said it generated £89.4 million ($129.5m) in profit on revenue of £170.3 million ($263.9m), or 5.31 pence (8.1 cents) per share, a profit increase of 44 percent.

ARm said it made an "encouraging start" in the new fiscal yeah, and revenue is expected to stay in line with market expectations. In addition, the chip maker made a number of announcements at Computex, including the introduction of anti-piracy chips and the Cortex-A12, designed for mid-range smartphones.