Apple spent $4.6 billion on tablet chip parts in 2011
updated 04:30 pm EST, Wed February 1, 2012
Apple, other wireless makers driving semi market
Apple spent by far the most amount of money in buying tablet chips during 2011, says research firm IHS iSuppli. The company is said to have dished out $4.6 billion, easily trumping Samsung's $603 million, and HTC's $199 million. A recent Gartner estimate put Apple's total semiconductor purchases for last year at about $17 billion.
IHS analyst Wenlie Ye states that wireless devices now represent about 24 percent of all semiconductor parts sold, having hit $58.6 billion in 2011, up 14.5 percent over 2010. Computer chips are said to have grown just 4 percent to $53.7 billion. Ye predicts that wireless will continue to produce the most growth during the next two years. "A substantial portion of the segment's increase will be due to rising tablet sales, although mobile handsets like smartphones will continue to account for the lion's share of semiconductor segment in the wireless area," the analyst adds.
