ARM CEO: iPhone may double smartphone sales

Chief executive officer Warren East of ARM Holdings on Wednesday voiced his belief that the hype surrounding Apple's iPhone will greatly increase demand for smartphones as well as internet access on-the-go, and even speculated that smartphone sales could double this year if the iPhone turns out to be a home run product. "This has been an emerging market for a long time," East said during an interview at Computex, going on to predict nearly 200 million smarphone sales -- double that of last year -- if the iPhone proves a hit, according to PC World.

"Within the next few years, smartphones will make up half the mobile phone market," East added.

ARM Holdings produces processing cores found in roughly 95 percent of all smartphone models as well as several iPods, and many industry watchers speculate that ARM technology could at least partially help drive Apple's iPhone.

Filed under: Apple