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Samsung Retakes Title of World's Largest Semiconductor Customer from Apple in 2012

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MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Research firm Gartner today shared its estimates of global semiconductor purchases for 2012, finding that Samsung has retaken the title Apple had gained in 2011 when it leapt over both Samsung and HP. Samsung (28.9% growth) and Apple (13.6% growth) registered as the biggest winners in 2012, as the overall market declined by 3% with Sony (1.9%) and Lenovo (0.3%) being the only other top-ten companies showing positive performance.
"Although Samsung and Apple continue to go from strength to strength, other leading electronic equipment makers fared less well, and six of the top 10 reduced their demand in 2012," said Masatsune Yamaji, principal research analyst at Gartner. "In addition to a weak macroeconomic situation, a dramatic change in consumer demand contributed to a reduction in semiconductor demand in 2012.
Click to expand...
Yamaji pointed to the strong shift to mobile devices as a primary reason for the overall decline in the semiconductor market, with traditional computers that require significantly higher semiconductor content experiencing relatively poor sales in the face of smartphone and tablet popularity.

gartner_2012_semiconductors.png
Top Ten 2012 Semiconductor Customers (Billions of Dollars)​
Samsung and Apple together now account for over 15% of the world's semiconductor market, up from roughly 12% in 2011.

Gartner's numbers measure the total silicon content of all products designed by Apple and each of its competitors, a metric known as Design TAM. This is distinct from Purchasing TAM, which would attribute to a given company only the amount actually purchased by the company. As an example of the difference between the two metrics, semiconductors purchased by a third-party manufacturing partner would generally count toward the primary company's Design TAM but not its Purchasing TAM.

Article Link: Samsung Retakes Title of World's Largest Semiconductor Customer from Apple in 2012
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/01/23/samsung-retakes-title-of-worlds-largest-semiconductor-customer-from-apple-in-2012/
slffl

slffl

macrumors 65816
Mar 5, 2003
1,303
4
Seattle, WA
So Samsung spent more money on semiconductors? I don't get what this is supposed to tell us. That they buy more units? That they pay more per unit? Seriously, people will write anything these days for click bait.
 
Stella

Stella

macrumors G3
Apr 21, 2003
8,837
6,334
Canada
The only point I see to this article post is another worthless apple vs samsung flame war.
 
L

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
Numbers in this table does not tell the whole story. Given the fact that Samsung itself is one of the largest semiconductor manufactures in the World, it means that in total (purchased and it owns chips) Samsung uses way more chips than any other companies. Still some people will probably tell that the numbers of Samsung's "sold" phones/tablets are fake because those are "shipped" units :D
 
Squilly

Squilly

macrumors 68020
Nov 17, 2012
2,260
4
PA
Well... That was pointless. Summary: Samsung now buys more semiconductors for their products.
 
L

lilo777

macrumors 603
Nov 25, 2009
5,144
0
slffl said:
So Samsung spent more money on semiconductors? I don't get what this is supposed to tell us. That they buy more units? That they pay more per unit? Seriously, people will write anything these days for click bait.
Click to expand...

When Apple was on the top, it was interpreted as the fact that Apple has huge over over suppliers which allows them to get lower component prices. Perhaps now same could be said about Samsung. Also Apple's reduced influence may mean higher component prices (and negative consequences for AAPL)
 
P

pixelpro

macrumors member
Jun 17, 2010
48
31
Breaking news: Samsung sells more washing machines than Apple. Apple stock drops more than 30%!

Does anyone see the fallacy above?
 
ArchAndroid

ArchAndroid

macrumors regular
Aug 26, 2012
100
4
London, England
Squilly said:
Well... That was pointless. Summary: Samsung now buys more semiconductors for their products.
Click to expand...

I think reading between the lines, one can surmise that Samsung requires a lot more semiconductors than Apple and the reason why the numbers are so close is because of the presumably because of the large discount Samsung Fabs gives Samsung Electronics.
 
S

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
slffl said:
So Samsung spent more money on semiconductors? I don't get what this is supposed to tell us. That they buy more units? That they pay more per unit? Seriously, people will write anything these days for click bait.
Click to expand...

Stella said:
The only point I see to this article post is another worthless apple vs samsung flame war.
Click to expand...

And this is different from several articles that appear here?

Threads not even about Samsung (or any competitor) wind up being stupid pissing contests
 
J

JyveAFK

macrumors newbie
Apr 18, 2011
2
0
They use chips for their fridges/freezers/ovens/microwaves. This is hardly unexpected.
Until we see an iKettle, it's kinda expected that Samsung will be buying more chips for everything they make.
 
T

tjl3

macrumors 6502a
Mar 8, 2012
595
4
Reading between the lines, Samsung stands to lose a giant customer as Apple moves to TSMC for semiconductors.
 
S

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
JyveAFK said:
They use chips for their fridges/freezers/ovens/microwaves. This is hardly unexpected.
Until we see an iKettle, it's kinda expected that Samsung will be buying more chips for everything they make.
Click to expand...

Yes but conversely - when Apple was the chief purchaser - it was "impressive" because Apple only does x,y,z. So naturally the "stat" is of interest. And I believe (sincerely) if Apple was announced to still be on top - there would be some stupid backslapping going on here as if this stat was uber important or revealed anything more than what it does.
 
AnorexicPig

AnorexicPig

macrumors 6502
Dec 12, 2012
378
31
Winnipeg,Canada
lilo777 said:
When Apple was on the top, it was interpreted as the fact that Apple has huge over over suppliers which allows them to get lower component prices. Perhaps now same could be said about Samsung. Also Apple's reduced influence may mean higher component prices (and negative consequences for AAPL)
Click to expand...

:apple: still is on top :cool:
 
Nightarchaon

Nightarchaon

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2010
1,393
30
:apple: = no2 outside USA, Samsung is kicking :apple: ass with its CHOICE of smartphones , giving the consumer the choice of screen size and form factors is a GOOD THING ,not a bad thing, should :apple: wake up from the torpor its been in since SJs death and gets back to innovating instead of incrementally updating and reacting to the competition it "might" keep its head afloat, other wise its heading back to the dark days of just churning out pretty, expensive, boxes with nothing on them that anyone wants.

Actually i hope :apple: gets driven out of the smartphone and tablet markets eventually, and gets back to producing and investing in its desktops

as far as semi conductors go, isnt there only like 3 companies that actually MAKE these things anyway, everyone else just rents their machines
 
AnorexicPig

AnorexicPig

macrumors 6502
Dec 12, 2012
378
31
Winnipeg,Canada
Nightarchaon said:
:apple: = no2 outside USA, Samsung is kicking :apple: ass with its CHOICE of smartphones , giving the consumer the choice of screen size and form factors is a GOOD THING ,not a bad thing, should :apple: wake up from the torpor its been in since SJs death and gets back to innovating instead of incrementally updating and reacting to the competition it "might" keep its head afloat, other wise its heading back to the dark days of just churning out pretty, expensive, boxes with nothing on them that anyone wants.

Actually i hope :apple: gets driven out of the smartphone and tablet markets eventually, and gets back to producing and investing in its desktops

as far as semi conductors go, isnt there only like 3 companies that actually MAKE these things anyway, everyone else just rents their machines
Click to expand...

Really ! Last I read-:apple: still had some 65% profits in mobile space and 60% or more market share in tablets !
 
gnasher729

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
lilo777 said:
Numbers in this table does not tell the whole story. Given the fact that Samsung itself is one of the largest semiconductor manufactures in the World, it means that in total (purchased and it owns chips) Samsung uses way more chips than any other companies. Still some people will probably tell that the numbers of Samsung's "sold" phones/tablets are fake because those are "shipped" units :D
Click to expand...

You didn't read the article properly. At about the last third it explains that you are exactly wrong.
 
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