Warren East, CEO of mobile-processor outfit ARM, has said that he welcomes the iPhone, and believes it will make a “huge difference” in the smartphone market. When asked about the smartphone becoming a mainstream device, East responded, “I think we’re a couple of years away, probably, but as I said, I think the iPhone is going to make a huge difference.” While East coyly replied to questions as to whether the iPhone contains a chip based on one of ARM’s designs, he did give the device praise. “Well, frankly, I think the other players are all a bit sort of… They needed somebody like Apple to come along and shake them up a bit. I mean, Nokias are pretty good (pulls out his N95 smart phone), but this N95 is probably, in some ways, just a little bit shy of an iPhone.” He also gave Apple credit for sparking innovation in the market, stating, “I think it’s that sort of second-order effect that we’ll see in the smart-phone space with the iPhone; it’s actually stimulating lots of other people to go and bring out their own devices.”
Charles Starrett was a senior editor at iLounge. He's been covering the iPod, iPhone, and iPad since their inception. He has written numerous articles and reviews, and his work has been featured in multiple publications.