Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Nokia, Motorola Top IC Spenders

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Nokia and Motorola will up their semiconductor spending by the highest percentage among the world’s top-10 OEM chip buyers in 2005 and 2006, iSuppli Corp. predicts.

Nokia, the top seller of mobile phones, will boost chip spending 15.1% in 2006, up from 12.7 %p last year. Motorola, which ranks second, is projected to increase semiconductor purchasing 14.5% this year from 20.7% in 2005.

The global average increase in chip spending was 7% in 2005 and will be 7.7% in 2006, iSuppli says. Semiconductor spending among wireless communications OEMs was 7.3% percent in 2005 and will be 6.3% in 2006.

Motorola's electronic equipment revenue rose to $32.6 billion in 2005, up 23.9% from $26.3 billion in 2004. Nokia's electronic gear revenue increased $38.1 billion in 2005, up nearly 18%. By contrast, average electronic equipment revenue for all OEMs tracked by iSuppli rose 8.3% between 2004 and 2005.

Lenovo posted the largest increase in semiconductor spending, at 265%, boosted by the acquisition of IBM’s PC Group. This acquisition also caused IBM’s chip purchasing to decrease by nearly 33% in 2005.