Apple has become the biggest semiconductor buyer in the world, having spent $17 billion on chips in 2011, says Gartner. The research group notes that Apple spent 34.6 percent more last year than it did in 2010, leapfrogging out of third place to beat Samsung, which managed $16.7 billion for 2011. HP sits at third in the new results, having paid out $16.6 billion. Apple saw the fastest growth of any party in the top 10.
