Apple-supplier Imagination sees strong shipment growth

LONDON (Reuters) - Imagination Technologies, the British chip designer which powers video and graphics in Apple's products, said high-profile consumer product launches for Christmas would help maintain its momentum.

The company, whose designs are found in smartphone, tablets, including the iPad, games consoles and smart TVs, said it had seen strong growth in shipment volumes from its chip making partners in the period since May 1.

It also said its licensing pipeline remained robust, despite macro-economic uncertainty causing some caution among its customers.

Chip giant Intel has a 14.5 percent stake in Imagination, while Apple, which unveiled its latest iPhone on Wednesday, has 8.7 percent.

Chief executive Hossein Yassaie said the group's technologies were being adopted more widely across both new and existing partners, keeping it on track to meet its stated goal of around 1 billion annual unit shipments by 2016.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle)