General
Samsung is known for spending billions of dollars each year on research and development, its audit report for 2014 showed that it spent just under $14 billion on R&D, this was actually the highest amount that Samsung has ever spent on research and development. Global strategy consulting firm Strategy&, a part of PricewaterhouseCoopers, has released a list that details how much the top 20 publicly traded companies have invested in R&D. Samsung's spending appears to have slightly increased in 2015.
German auto maker Volkswagen claimed the top spot on this list with $15.3 billion in R&D spending last year while Samsung comes second with $14.1 billion. Its main rival Apple spent considerably less on R&D efforts as it only managed to clinch the 18th spot on this list after spending $6 billion. It's impressive that Samsung is still spending a significant amount of money on research and development even though its quarterly performance hasn't really been spectacular. Samsung has already said that it expects growth to remain tough in 2016 but it looks like for now it doesn't seem to be willing to cut its R&D spending, most likely because it's now seeking for profits in avenues other than mobile and semiconductor.
