“Apple is the biggest buyer of microprocessors today — and it’s getting bigger,” Stephen Shankland reports for CNET.
“The semiconductor industry produces all kinds of chips for memory, running software, communicating over networks, and more. And Apple, by virtue of its booming iPhone and iPad business, is a voracious consumer, said Dale Ford, head of IHS iSuppli’s electronics and semiconductor research business,” Shankland reports. “Samsung is in second place, and also growing fast, he added.”
Shankland reports, “In 2009, Apple was one of the herd, spending about $9 billion on semiconductors. This year, that figure should rise to a whopping $27 billion. By 2013, Ford said, Apple will spend about $29 billion. Samsung, while still well ahead of its rivals, trails Apple considerbly in it chip spending. Its purchases should rise from about $10 billion in 2009 to $18 billion in 2013, he said.”
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