Apple spent $17.2 billion on semiconductor chips: Gartner

Apple became the biggest customer of semiconductor chip vendors in 2011, spending $17.2 billion, and hopping two places in the ranking, from third in 2010, says Gartner.

The company registered a growth of 36 percent in its spending, compared to $12.8 billion in 2010.

Apple gained a much greater share of the smartphone market, and its media tablet business was also highly successful in 2011. While DRAM prices fell drastically in 2011, and many PC vendors decreased their total semiconductor demand accordingly, the success of the MacBook Air enabled the company to increase semiconductor chip demand even in its PC business.

Samsung came second with the total spending on semiconductors reaching $16.6 billion, with a growth of 9.2 percent.

The leading electronic equipment manufacturers remained the center of the semiconductor world in 2011, accounting for $105.6 billion of semiconductors on a design total available market (TAM) basis, and contributing for 35 percent of semiconductor vendors' worldwide chip revenue.

''Those companies that gained share in the smartphone market, such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and HTC, increased their semiconductor demand, while those who lost market share in this segment, such as Nokia and LG Electronics, decreased their semiconductor demand. Media tablets were also a growth driver for the semiconductor market throughout 2011,'' said Masatune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner.

''Vendors need to be constantly looking for new market entrants who will, in turn, be tomorrow's market leaders,'' he further added.

The top ten companies in terms of spending on semiconductor chips include- HP with $16.6 billion; Dell with $9.7 billion; Nokia at $9 billion; Sony at $8 billion; Toshiba at $7.5 billion; Lenovo at $7.5 billion; LG at $6.6 billion; and Panasonic at $6.2 billion respectively.