South Korea's largest companies have invested more money into R&D throughout 2018 compared to previous years. The figure is roughly 49.7 trillion won ($42.5 billion) combined, reveals a recent report by The Korea Herald citing the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology. More to the point at hand, out of all the South Korean companies that have contributed to this figure, it turns out that Samsung Electronics is the biggest spender.
Samsung Electronics was 2018's biggest R&D spender in South Korea
The top eight largest South Korean companies have reportedly spent 30 trillion won ($25.6 billion) on R&D combined, out of the total of 49.7 trillion ($42.5 billion) invested throughout 2018 by no less than 1,000 Korean companies. Samsung Electronics' $14.2 billion R&D investment overshadowed all of its peers and competitors last year, including Samsung's own Display division, as well as LG Electronics, LG Display, and LG Chem. Its R&D budget even surpassed companies from other industries, including Kia Motors and Hyundai Motors.
Samsung Electronics has a lot of spending avenues across different industries, and it is the largest smartphone maker in the world, after all. Last year the company was reportedly interested in forming an R&D division for its foundry business, and half a year ago Samsung revealed its plans to invest $115 billion in logic chip development by 2030.
The tech giant continued to pour money into R&D in 2019 as well. It spent a record $8.4 billion on R&D in the first six months of the year alone. Assuming that the trend continues in the second half of 2019 then the company will likely remain Korea's top R&D spender this year as well.
