Recently, CNMO learned from foreign media that the latest "2023 Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" released by the European Commission shows that Samsung's R&D investment in 2022 will be 18.435 billion euros, and its global ranking will drop from sixth in 2021 to seventh place. It is reported that Samsung ceded the sixth place to Volkswagen AG of Germany (18.98 billion euros), ahead of Volkswagen is Huawei, which entered the top five in the world.
Huawei
According to foreign media, Samsung Electronics used to be the world's largest research and development (R&D) company, and now it has slipped to seventh place. Among the top 2,500 R&D companies in the world, the number of Korean companies has also declined. In the past, including in 2018, Samsung has occupied the top position on several occasions. This time, however, its leading position was overtaken by American ICT companies such as Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and Apple, ranking even behind Huawei and Volkswagen.
Last year, the total R&D investment of the top 2,500 companies increased by 12.8% year-on-year to 1.249 trillion euros, a record high. Samsung Electronics' investment grew by 10.3%, which was below average. There are only four Korean companies in the top 100: SK hynix (59th), LG Electronics (72nd) and Hyundai Motor (91st). Back in 2013, 80 Korean companies were among the top 2,500 clubs, but in 2022, that number dropped to 47. South Korea is a country where only a handful of companies make significant R&D investments, with Samsung Electronics accounting for 49.1% of South Korean companies' total annual R&D investment, and the top five companies accounting for 75.5% of South Korea's total R&D investment, according to the European Commission.
Foreign media reports
Last year, the top 10 and top 50 companies accounted for 17.7% and 39.1% of total global R&D investment, respectively.