INCREASED SALES OF PCs TO BUSINESSES and consumers helped Hewlett-Packard and Dell hold on to their number one and two positions as the leading OEM purchasers of semiconductors last year. HP spent $11.0 billion on semiconductors in 2003 and Dell bought $10.2 billion worth, according to a report from iSuppli's OEM Semiconductor Spending Analysis service.
Six of the top 10 OEM buyers boosted purchases by double-digit percentages (see the figure). HP was up 11.9% and Dell rose 21.1%. Increased purchases at Nokia (up 23.7%), Samsung (21.4%), and Motorola (10.8%) resulted from a spike in sales and production of mobile handsets during the fourth quarter of 2003, says iSuppli.
Hitachi recorded the biggest increase, 27.1%, as the Japanese economy and electronics industry staged recoveries. The only top 10 company to spend less on semiconductors last year was Siemens, with a 0.6% decline.
The continued growth of electronic production in China kept the Asia/Pacific region the top destination for semiconductor shipments, with 40.4% going to the area. Shipments to the Americas and to the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region actually declined last year.
Besides the worldwide report, four regional reports covering the Americas, EMEA, Japan, and Asia/Pacific in depth are available. The OEM Semiconductor Spending Analysis will be updated twice in 2004, compared to once in 2003.
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