Stat of the day: 1.9 billion

The number of chips ARM shipped in the three months to September this year. Laid end to end, these 0.5 square millimetre widgets stretch 950km. We were hoping that got you to the moon and back, but it doesn't. It leaves you stranded about a third of the way there.

by Rebecca Burn-Callander

Published: 25 Oct 2011

Last Updated: 09 Oct 2013

Chips with everything! These clever little chips, which power the new Apple iPhone 4S, the iPad and thousand of other devices, have helped boost ARM's operating profits by a stonking 44% in the third quarter, topping £56m.

ARM is now on target to hit a £477m annual turnover this year, despite the shaky state of many semiconductor companies and falling sales in non-mobile markets.

Other chip facts:

Unlike ARM, STMicroelectronics, Europe’s largest chipmaker, saw profits tumble 64% in the third quarter

Recycling bins in Cambridge, where ARM is headquartered, are to be armed (fnar) with chips to monitor (and possibly reward or penalise) residents for their recycling efforts

Britain eats 22,000 tonnes of chips (the potato variety) every week

McCain is the king of the frozen chip industry. The company provides all of McDonalds fries and around one in every three chips consumed in the UK has passed through a McCain factory.