US Export Restrictions Sparked 23.5% Drop in Huawei Chip Spending: Gartner

Apple remained the world’s top semiconductor customer in 2020, comprising 11.9% of global chip spending, reported Gartner Tuesday. Samsung was second with 8.1% share, and Huawei barely inched out Lenovo for third with 4.2% share, it said. Huawei significantly decreased its semiconductor spending in 2020 to $19.09 billion, down 23.5% from 2019, said Gartner. Trump administration export restrictions on Huawei limited its ability to buy semiconductors, but the Chinese market “remains important for semiconductor vendors, as other Chinese smartphone OEMs stepped in to fill the vacuum created by Huawei in the second half,” said analyst Masatsune Yamaji.