14 DAY TRIAL // A research note by IHS iSuppli reveals that Cupertino-based Apple is now the world’s largest OEM semiconductor buyer, surpassing Hewlett Packard.
Apple became the largest buyer of semiconductors among original equipment manufacturers for the first time ever, and it’s all due to booming demand for the iPhone and iPad, iSuppli said.
The Mac maker bought $17.5 billion worth of semiconductors in 2010, which iSuppli notes as a significant 79.6% increase from $9.7 billion in 2009.
In the same timeframe, semiconductor investments cost HP around $15 million.
Wenlie Ye, analyst for IHS, said “Apple’s surge to leadership in semiconductor spending in 2010 was driven by the overwhelming success of its wireless products, namely the iPhone and the iPad.”
The analyst asserts that, since iDevices require enormous quantities of NAND flash memory, “Apple in 2010 was the world’s No. 1 purchaser of NAND flash.”
In its report, the metrics firm also draws an interesting comparison between the two companies’ business models.
iSuppli trusts that Apple will further strengthen hardware sales because each and every one of them is connected through iTunes and / or iOS.
Apple products are synergetic with all other Apple products, which permits “committed users of the Apple ecosystem [to] derive more value from each additional Apple device they buy, and users have little interest in leaving the Apple realm,” Suppli notes.
“In other words, through a common ecosystem, Apple leverages each device to sell other devices,” reads the iSuppli research note.
In contrast, a PC buyer could care less whether it’s made by HP or Dell, iSuppli believes, as long as the price is attractive.
iSuppli thus concludes that “there is little or no value in purchasing another Hewlett-Packard,” as opposed to buying an Apple product.
Visit IHS iSuppli here for the full report on Apple becoming the world’s largest buyer of semiconductors.