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TAP TIMES -39- MARCH 2022

Apple was biggest buyer production not just of vehicles but also

of semiconductors in 2021 various electronic equipment types, includ-
ing smartphones and video game con-

STAMFORD, Conn. —The semicon- soles.”
ductor shortage and the COVID-19 Higher selling prices
pandemic disrupted global original
equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs) However, the chip shortage signifi cantly in-
production in 2021. creased selling prices, which meant OEMs
spent much more on semiconductor pro-
curement in 2021 than in prior years.
Greater chip spending
The top 10 OEMs increased their chip The average selling prices (ASPs) of semi-
spending, however, by 25.2% and ac- conductor chips, such as microcontroller
counted for 42.1% of the total market, ac- units, general-purpose logic integrated cir-
cording to preliminary results by Gartner. cuits (ICs), and a wide variety of applica-
“Semiconductor vendors shipped more tion-specifi c semiconductors, increased by
15% or more in 2021.

“The semiconductor
shortage also accel-
erated OEMs’ double
booking and panic
buying, causing a
huge spike in their
semiconductor spend-
ing,” said Yamaji.

Top two spots
Apple and Samsung
Electronics have re-
tained the top two
spots since 2011
while swapping ranks
through the years.
Huawei struggled to
buy chips and dropped
down from the No.3
spot to the No. 7 posi-
tion in 2021.

Other Chinese smart-
Source: Gartner phone OEMs, such as

chips in 2021, but the OEMs’ demand was BBK Electronics and Xiaomi, signifi cantly
far stronger than the vendors’ production increased their semiconductor spending as
capacity,” said Masatsune Yamaji, research they successfully compensated for the loss
director at Gartner. The semiconductor loss of market share by Huawei in the
shortage prevented OEMs from increasing next page