Meet The World's Largest Semiconductor Buyer: Apple

We spotted this today:

"Apple is easily outstripping all other hardware makers in semiconductor spending, a new report from IHS iSuppli has found.

According to the research firm, Apple spent $17.5 billion on semiconductors in 2010, representing a whopping 79.6 percent increase over the $9.7 billion it spent in 2009. That year, Apple was ranked third among semiconductor buyers behind Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Samsung.

And with that leap in spending, IHS iSuppli said, Apple now finds itself--"for the first time ever"--the largest buyer of semiconductors among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) worldwide."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20070031-17/apple-now-worlds-largest-semiconductor-buyer/#ixzz1OhwuHAzh

We had written about how Apple is a large buyer of various sensors.