時機不好，高階手機晶片銷量滑坡？

Although ARM reported a drop in royalty payments for its embedded chip designs, the company reported an increase in licensing revenues and a healthy boost in the chips it sells into smartphones, including the first 64-bit sales. The lower royalty numbers had prompted concerns that end customers were beginning to prefer cheaper smartphones, with a ripple effect that would in turn hurt ARM's profits as customers bought and sold processors based on ARM's cheaper, lower-margin designs.

ARM陣營日漸茁壯，各方聞風來歸，喜見授權費收入提高。然低價手機當道，低階處理器成當紅炸子雞，就算晶片出貨量增加，也彌補不了權利金收入的走低。

There’s continued growth in the $100 dollar below market in smartphones. We will be adding new products to that price segment as well.
- Hyunjoon Kim, senior vice president for Samsung’s mobile communication business

Samsung財報也透露，低價手機在新興國家快速成長，無法不正視。

As growth in Samsung's core high-end smartphone business eases in wealthy countries, the battle is shifting to cheaper, narrow-margin phones in emerging markets. For emerging markets, the company is developing more lower-end phones that will come with larger screens, and slots to carry two SIM cards.

Samsung策略調整下，預計將推升低階處理器的市占占率。

而主賣精品手機的Apple也承認，其意外耀眼的上季銷量中，低價的iPhone 4s居功匪淺。