Samsung Electronics Invests 90 Trillion Won in Facilities and R&D Last Year, Ranking 1st Among Top 10 Global Semiconductor Firms

Samsung Electronics spent approximately 90 trillion won on facility and research and development (R&D) investments last year, marking the highest investment amount among the world's top 10 semiconductor companies.

According to a survey by corporate data research firm CEO Score on Wednesday regarding the capital expenditure (CAPEX) and R&D investment status of the top 10 global semiconductor companies last year, Samsung Electronics ranked first with a total investment of 89.8935 trillion won, consisting of 52.1531 trillion won in facility investments and 37.7404 trillion won in R&D.

Samsung Electronics' investment amount was overwhelming, exceeding that of the second-ranked TSMC of Taiwan (69.4109 trillion won) by more than 20 trillion won.

U.S.-based Intel ranked third with 40.4499 trillion won, while SK Hynix, one of the two pillars of the Korean semiconductor industry, ranked fourth with 35.045 trillion won.

They were followed by Nvidia (34.9369 trillion won), Micron (27.6328 trillion won), Broadcom (16.4167 trillion won), Qualcomm (14.4305 trillion won), AMD (12.9562 trillion won), and Texas Instruments (TI, 9.4407 trillion won).

Samsung Electronics also ranked first in R&D investment costs alone last year.

This represents a gap of more than 10 trillion won compared to second-ranked Nvidia, which spent 26.3347 trillion won.

Intel (19.6044 trillion won), Broadcom (15.535 trillion won), Qualcomm (12.7497 trillion won), AMD (11.5158 trillion won), and TSMC (11.2617 trillion won) followed.

Samsung Electronics has generally shown a steady increase in facility and R&D investments over the past five years.

The investment amount grew from 72.2307 trillion won in 2021 to 88.7398 trillion won in 2024.

In 2023, despite a 84.9% plunge in operating profit to 6.567 trillion won compared to the previous year due to a downturn in the semiconductor market, Samsung Electronics expanded its investment scale by executing 88.8739 trillion won, which is 13.5 times that profit.

It is evaluated that by continuing to invest steadily even during the "cold winter" of the semiconductor industry, the company laid the foundation for the semiconductor super-cycle that began in earnest last year.

CEO Score stated, "Given the nature of the semiconductor industry, which requires astronomical investments every year, the controversy over the distribution of tens of trillions of won in performance bonuses and retained earnings—which has been raised during the recent semiconductor boom—is expected to act as a significant burden on the companies involved."

(Photo: Courtesy of Samsung Electronics, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.