Among the World's Top 100 ICT Companies, Only 2 Are Korean... Low R&D Ratio and Weak Software

Only Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix among Korean companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Contrary to its title as an ICT powerhouse, South Korea has only two companies among the world's top 100 ICT companies, falling behind ICT competitors such as China, Japan, India, and Taiwan.

On the 12th, the Federation of Korean Industries (hereafter 'FKI') analyzed the world's top 100 ICT companies by market capitalization and found that South Korea had only two companies (Samsung Electronics ranked 9th, SK Hynix ranked 56th) listed. Among the top 100 ICT companies, U.S. companies accounted for half with 56 companies, followed by China (9), Japan (8), India (4), and Taiwan (3). Expanding the scope to the top 200 companies, which include next-generation contenders aiming to enter the top 100, the number of Chinese and Japanese companies surged to 27 and 17 respectively, while South Korean companies increased only to five, including Naver.

Even in the semiconductor sector, where South Korea holds its greatest strength within ICT, only two Korean companies were among the world's top 100 companies by market capitalization. This is significantly lower compared to competitors such as China with 41 companies, the U.S. with 31, and Taiwan with 15. The ratio of R&D investment to sales revenue for Korean companies was 7.4%, much lower than competitors like the U.S. (17.1%), the Netherlands (15.4%), Japan (13%), and Taiwan (9.5%), making it difficult to be optimistic about the future competitiveness of semiconductors. Additionally, the proportion of government subsidies to sales revenue among major global semiconductor companies was also the lowest for Korea (Samsung Electronics 0.8%, SK Hynix 0.5%) compared to China’s SMIC at 6.6%, the U.S.’s Micron at 3.8%, and the Netherlands’ NXP at 3.1%.

Meanwhile, the top five industries by company distribution among the world’s top 100 ICT companies were ▲Semiconductors ▲App Software ▲Data Processing & Outsourcing Services ▲System Software ▲IT Consulting. In contrast, the industry composition of Korean ICT listed companies is centered on manufacturing hardware such as ▲Electronic Components ▲Semiconductor Equipment ▲Semiconductors.

In the system software sector, only two Korean companies, Douzone Bizon (ranked 74th) and AhnLab (ranked 82nd), were listed among the global top 100 companies. The U.S. had 34 companies, China 32, Israel 6, and Japan 5, with the total market capitalization of U.S. companies being 1,741.4 times that of Korea.

Kim Bong-man, head of the FKI International Headquarters, stated, “The speed of digitalization in our economy is slower than expected, and the competitiveness in the software sector is actually low, which is concerning. Cybersecurity, a next-generation industry, was highlighted as a promising field during the Korea-U.S. summit in May, emphasizing bilateral cooperation. Therefore, active investment, institutional improvements, and support are necessary for Korean companies to grow on the international stage.”

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