text: Chipmaker Imagination Technologies has posted an 80 per cent rise in pretax profit after doubling its shipment of chips.
  The British company supplies chips to shareholders Apple and Intel for use in tablets like the iPad, smartphones, computers and TVs.
  Imagination Technologies said adjusted pretax profit for the year to April 30 rose 80 per cent to £24m and analysts expect the group to report pretax profit of £24.7m.
  The chipmaker predicts it will ship one billion chips a year within the next five years after doubling the amount of chips shipped to 245 million units from 126 million the previous year.
  "Our licensing prospects have never been better," said chief executive Hossein Yassaie.
  "Our technology is in many of the key areas of growth, not just smartphones but increasingly tablets, set-top boxes, TV and cars."
  Imagination has benefited from strong growth in smartphones, but it is facing increasing pressure from ARM, which is expanding into graphics from its dominant position in CPUs, and from rivals such as Nvidia in tablet computers.
  ARM dislodged Imagination in Samsung's high-end chips last year, although Imagination beat ARM in winning a place in STMicroelectronics new flagship chip in February.