RISC chip designer ARM Holdings Plc has taken advantage of the recent share issue by Superscape Group Plc to buy an 11.9% holding in the company at a cost of $1.5m pounds ($2.4m). Superscape is ARM's partner in a consortium that offers a platform for mobile devices.

Superscape has been struggling financially as a consequence of the slow roll-out of mobile technology and has burnt its way through almost 16m pounds ($24.7m) , developing software and technology for the delivery of interactive 3D applications such as games, user interfaces, and multimedia messaging. It reported a loss of 4.5m pounds ($6.9m) last year on revenue of just 510,000 pounds ($788,000).

However, ARM believes that Superscape's Swerve technology, which vastly speeds up downloads of mobile applications, is essential for the next generation of mobile devices, and stepped in to help the company to raise the funds essential for its survival.

© ComputerWire