Samsung Electronics' R&D investment in the first quarter was the largest ever, although management uncertainty has increased due to the outbreak of the COVID-19.
According to Samsung Electronics on May 4, research and development costs in the first quarter were tallied at 5.36 trillion won ($4.4 billion), breaking the quarterly high of 5.32 trillion won ($4.3 billion) recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.
By quarterly R&D spending, the company posted around 4 trillion won ($3.3 billion) during the six-quarter period, from 4.08 trillion won ($3.3 billion) in the second quarter of 2017 to 4.56 trillion won ($3.7 billion) in the third quarter of 2018.
In the fourth quarter of last year, when the semiconductor industry fell to the bottom, it fell to the 4 trillion won level at 4.82 trillion won, but returned to the 5 trillion won level in the first quarter of this year.
In the first quarter of this year, the ratio of R&D expenses to sales stood at 9.7 percent, up slightly from 9.6 percent in the first quarter of last year, reaching nearly 10 percent.
Last year, Samsung Electronics spent 20.1 trillion won on annual research and development, surpassing the 20 trillion won mark for the first time in its history. Last year, the portion of R&D costs came to 8.8 percent, up 1.1 percentage points from 7.7 percent the previous year.
Although performance is expected to be sluggish this year as the COVID-19 impact is reflected in earnest from the second quarter, R&D spending is expected to exceed 20 trillion won.
Samsung Electronics plans to invest 133 trillion won ($109 billion) in R&D and production facilities by 2030 for system semiconductors, and will invest 13 trillion won ($10.6 billion) by 2025 as it is also pushing ahead with its QD display business.
