Samsung Electronics, Q1 R&D Investment of 5.36 Trillion KRW... Highest Quarterly Record

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Samsung Electronics' research and development (R&D) investment costs for the first quarter of this year reached an all-time high.

According to industry sources on the 4th, Samsung Electronics' R&D expenses for the first quarter of this year amounted to 5.36 trillion KRW, surpassing the previous quarterly record of 5.32 trillion KRW set in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The ratio of R&D expenses to sales in the first quarter of this year was 9.7%, slightly up by 0.1 percentage points from 9.6% in the first quarter of last year.

Samsung Electronics spent 20.1929 trillion KRW on R&D last year, marking the first time it exceeded 20 trillion KRW annually. The R&D expense ratio for last year was 8.8%, up 1.1 percentage points from 7.7% the previous year.

Although performance is expected to decline from the second quarter of this year due to the impact of COVID-19, annual R&D spending is projected to exceed 20 trillion KRW again.

At the regular shareholders' meeting held in March, Samsung Electronics stated that it would carry out planned investments without disruption despite COVID-19. For system semiconductors, it plans to invest 133 trillion KRW in R&D and production facilities by 2030, and for Quantum Dot (QD) displays, it will actively promote the business with an investment of 13 trillion KRW by 2025.

Previously, Samsung Electronics maintained quarterly R&D expenses in the 4 trillion KRW range for six consecutive quarters from the second quarter of 2017 (4.08 trillion KRW) to the third quarter of 2018 (4.56 trillion KRW).

In the fourth quarter of 2018, it recorded 5.32 trillion KRW, entering the 5 trillion KRW range, and continued this for four consecutive quarters with 5.04 trillion KRW in the first quarter of last year, 5.09 trillion KRW in the second quarter, and 5.16 trillion KRW in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter of last year, when the semiconductor market hit bottom, the amount fell to 4.82 trillion KRW, but it returned to the 5 trillion KRW range in the first quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics acquired 5,075 domestic patents and 8,729 U.S. patents last year. It currently holds a total of 180,035 patents worldwide, most of which are related to strategic businesses and future technologies such as smartphones, next-generation TVs, memory semiconductors, and system large-scale integration (LSI).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.