The success of the iPhone and iPad will allow Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) to dramatically increase its influence in the semiconductor world. Apple is the world's third largest semiconductor buyer today and will eclipse Samsung next year.

iSuppli said that Apple is spending about $12.4 billion on semiconductors this year, a number that will jump to $16.2 billion in 2011. As a result, Apple will surpass Samsung, whose spending is expected to increase from $12.8 billion to $13.9 billion in the same time frame. [Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ)] leads the chart with $15.8 billion this year and $17.1 billion in 2011.

"This year, spending by Apple will expand by a staggering 54% to reach $12.4 billion -- the highest growth rate predicted for any company," iSuppli said. "Next year, spending levels will by augmented by another 30.4% for the company to catapult to its vaunted second-place finish."

iSuppli's numbers suggest that Apple will be out-spending Nokia (NYSE: NOK) ($8.0 billion in 2011) by a factor of 2 and leave other giants such as Dell ($9.8 billion), Sony ($6.8 billion), Lenovo ($5.9 billion) and Acer ($5.9 billion) far behind.

"Leadership in semiconductor spending represents a position of prestige," said Min-Sun Moon, senior analyst for semiconductor spend and design at iSuppli. "An advancement in the rankings means that a company has been successful in introducing new products and that it is allocating more dollars in research and development -- two factors that, incidentally, feed innovativeness as well."