Samsung has always been a big spender when it comes to research and development. The company's audit report for 2014 showed that it spent just under $14 billion on R&D and the spending was increased to $14.1 billion in 2015. However, the company reduced its R&D spending in 2016 as it decided to acquire new technologies through mergers and acquisitions as well.
Data from the company's annual business report shows that Samsung Electronics spent 14.79 trillion won or $13.2 billion on research and development in 2016 which accounted for 7.3 percent of its revenue for the year.
Samsung made a couple of major acquisitions last year including that of Viv Labs, an artificial intelligence company founded by the creators of Siri. The technology that Viv Labs has been working on is expected to make its way into Samsung's AI-powered assistant solutions.
Its biggest acquisition ever was also announced last year when it decided to acquire Harman International and all of its brands for $8 billion. This acquisition was closed recently and Harman is now a part of Samsung Electronics.
