Samsung Electronics Tops with 17 Trillion Won Investment... 8 Companies Investing Over 1 Trillion Won
[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] The R&D investment amount of the top 1000 domestic companies in research and development (R&D) as of 2019 was 53.6 trillion KRW, showing an 8.07% increase compared to the previous year (49.6 trillion KRW).
The Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology announced on the 29th the results of the R&D scoreboard survey conducted on the top 1000 companies in R&D investment for 2019, disclosed through the Financial Supervisory Service.
Over the past 10 years, the ratio of R&D investment to sales of the top 1000 companies has steadily increased, reaching 4.29% in 2019, up 0.53 percentage points from the previous year.
By scale, companies with more than 1000 employees had the highest R&D investment, and by industry, manufacturing R&D investment accounted for the majority with 47.9 trillion KRW (89.2%).
By company size, R&D investment by companies with more than 1000 employees was 46.1 trillion KRW (86.0%). For companies with 300 to 999 employees, the number of companies, R&D investment, sales, R&D investment relative to sales, and number of employees all increased compared to the previous year.
The manufacturing sector effect in R&D investment remained strong. Among the top 1000 companies, manufacturing, which accounts for 74.8% of the total, invested 47.9 trillion KRW (89.2%) in R&D.
R&D investment was led by top companies. The top 100 companies invested 45 trillion KRW in R&D, accounting for 84.5% of the total investment by the top 1000 companies.
Companies with R&D investment exceeding 1 trillion KRW included Samsung Electronics (17 trillion KRW), SK Hynix (3.2 trillion KRW), LG Electronics (3.1 trillion KRW), Hyundai Motor Company (2.8 trillion KRW), Samsung Display (1.9 trillion KRW), Kia Motors (1.8 trillion KRW), LG Display (1.6 trillion KRW), and LG Chem (1.1 trillion KRW), totaling eight companies. Their combined R&D investment was 32.5 trillion KRW, accounting for 60.5% of the total investment by the top 1000 companies.
Among the top 1000 companies in R&D investment, 65.9% invested more than 5 billion KRW, and the scale of R&D investment sharply decreased as the ranking lowered.
The company with the highest year-on-year increase rate in R&D investment among the top 1000 companies was Trinode Co., Ltd., which develops and supplies mobile game software.
Seok Young-cheol, President of the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology, said, "It is a positive sign that the R&D investment amount and the ratio of R&D investment to sales of the top 1,000 companies leading domestic private R&D investment are on the rise." He added, "Although there were concerns about a decrease in investment due to the worsening macroeconomic environment such as last year's Japanese trade restrictions, companies are actively investing in future areas such as R&D, giving hope for overcoming the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19)."
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