The chief executive of ARM Holdings, which produces processing chips used in leading smartphones and tablets, is to step down from his role after 12 years.
Warren East led the company from start-up to near monopoly designer of smartphone chips, which are a vital component in Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy range.
ARM’s processors use considerably less power than traditional alternatives, giving them an advantage in battery-reliant devices like smartphones and tablets.
Their products run on nearly all the world’s smartphones and around one-third of all consumer devices.
"After you've been doing it for 12 years you do get a bit tired (...) and think 'Maybe that's a bit of a brake on the business and somebody else should have a go'," Mr East said.
Group president Simon Segars will replace the 51-year-old from July, the British company has said.
In Cambridge, ARM has been at the heart of the so-called 'Silicon Fen', a cluster of high-tech firms at the southern tip of the English Fenland, about an hour's drive north of London.
Founded in 1990, ARM now employs 2,300 people, with 2013 revenues forecast at around $1.03 billion.
"We've built a global company based here in the UK, proving it can be done in technology, and I intend to do a bit more of that," said Mr East, who eschews the casual clothes and colourful style of California's Silicon Valley in favour of smart suits and a sober manner.
Mr East, whose total pay including share awards and long-term incentives was £7.6 million pounds in 2012, said it was too early to talk about his next move, but that another executive role was unlikely in the short term.
£1 invested in the company's shares 10 years ago would be worth about £18 now, and the company itself is valued at nearly £13 billion (€15.17 billion).
Mr Segars, who is 45, has been with ARM for 22 years next week, leading the development of many of its first processors and working in engineering, sales and business development.
He said he did not expect to make any significant changes to company strategy.
"The strategy that we have now I've been part of building and believe in very strongly," he said.
He said ARM would keep growing in mobile computing and beyond, such as in providing technology to connect billions of devices ranging from appliances to vehicles, a concept known as the 'Internet of Things'.
"We see big opportunities in servers - where we are just really getting started - and likewise in wireless infrastructure, which is going to go through quite radical changes to keep up with all the data that smartphones and the Internet of Things are going to produce and consume," he said.
Shares in the company were down 2.2% at 900p by 2.16pm, but analysts were comfortable with Mr Segars as Mr East's successor.
"We do not believe that the choice of Mr Segars or the announcement is a significant surprise, though the timing is slightly earlier than we would have thought," said UBS analysts.
Mr East was well regarded by investors, but Mr Segars had been effectively running most of the business as executive vice president and general manager of the processor business and was also positively seen in the investment community, they said.
Some 8.7 billion ARM-based chips were shipped last year, up from 420 million when East took over in 2001.
