Samsung didn't only lead the pack in research and development expenditure last year it also retained its top spot as the world's largest buyer of semiconductors. The latest numbers from Gartner reveal that Samsung spent $29.867 billion on semiconductors in 2015. Even though that's massive it's still slightly lower than the $30.989 billion Samsung spent on semiconductors in 2014. Despite the slight dip in spending it has managed to retain its top spot on the list while Apple comes in second place with $29.116 billion in 2015 as opposed to $27.177 billion in 2014.
The data shows that the top ten companies spent about $123 billion combined on semiconductors in the past year and accounted for 36.9% of the entire market with Samsung leading with an 8.9% market share. Apple came quite close with an 8.7% market share. Principal research analyst at Gartner Masatsune Yamaji says that the decline in Samsung's spending should be considered as a big trend change. Yamaji points out that it's more difficult for leading companies to maintain their position for a long time, “current winners may not always be the winners in the future,” he predicts.
