After buying Anobit, people thought that Apple (News - Alert) would ease up on the amount of semiconductor chips it purchased. The exact opposite came true, however, as Apple just got hungrier and hungrier. It seems the world demand for its products is playing “king of the hill” with its capability to supply them.

Ever since the release of the iPhone 4 and the iPad, the company has been busy going shopping for chips. When we say shopping, though, we mean sending entire fleets of trucks to factories that produce semiconductors. It's now the company with one of the highest market shares in smartphones, tablets, and portable music devices, with a growth of 34.6 percent back in 2010, beating Samsung to the top.

In 2011, the company spent $17.3 billion solely on the purchase of semiconductor chips, putting it at a purchase share for chips of 5.7 percent. Samsung is still following close behind, with a total purchase of $16.7 billion and a purchase share percentage of 5.5. HP was also extremely close, sharing similar numbers with Samsung.

Lenovo (News - Alert) has been also pushing itself into the “top 10” list, purchasing 23.7 percent more semiconductors in 2011 than it did back in 2010. This puts the company at number 8 on the top 10 list, and it looks like we can justify higher expectations for the company this year. Nokia (News - Alert), however, hasn't been doing well. It purchased roughly 20 percent less semiconductors than it did in 2010, which pushed it down from fourth to fifth on the list.

All ten top electronics manufacturers spent a total, altogether, of $105.6 billion on semiconductor chips last year. Considering statistics for 2010, companies spent $1.8 billion more - approximately 1.8 percent.

Masatsune Yamaji, principal analyst at Gartner, said, “The major growth drivers in 2011 were smartphones, media tablets and solid-state drives. Those companies that gained share in the smartphone market, such as Apple, Samsung Electronics and HTC (News - Alert), increased their semiconductor demand, while those who lost market share in this segment, such as Nokia and LG Electronics, decreased their semiconductor demand. Media tablets were also a growth driver for the semiconductor market throughout 2011.”

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