South Korea’s largest companies, including Samsung, Hyundai and LG, spent more on research and development (R&D) and earned more last year compared to 2017, despite growing concerns about the slowing global economy, a local public institute said on Monday.

A new report released by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT) under the Industry Ministry said the combined investment on R&D of 1,000 companies amounted to 49.7 trillion won ($42.6 billion) last year, up 7.9 per cent year-on-year. The 1,000 companies are the Korean firms that made the largest amounts of R&D investments last year.

Out of the total 49.7 trillion won, the top eight companies – Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, LG Electronics, Hyundai Motor, Samsung Display, Kia Motors, LG Display and LG Chem – spent a combined 30 trillion won, accounting for 60.4 per cent of the total.

Samsung Electronics made the largest investment of 15.5 trillion won.

The nation’s largest tech giant has been spending on advanced chips, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, robots, automotive electronic parts and self-driving cars. The firm’s semi-annual report released in August showed it also invested 10.2 trillion won in R&D in the first half of this year, up 15.3 per cent year-on-year.

Samsung was followed by SK hynix and LG Electronics, which each invested 2.9 trillion won.

SK hynix’s R&D investment was its highest level ever last year, up 16 per cent from 2017 in preparation for the revival of the memory chip market. LG Electronics is also expanding its R&D investments centring on future businesses, such as artificial intelligence, robots, auto parts and premium home appliances.

Hyundai Motor spent 2.6 trillion won and Samsung Display invested 1.9 trillion won. Kia Motors, LG Display and LG Chem spent 1.7 trillion won, 1.6 trillion won and one trillion won.

Among the 1,000 companies, R&D investment in proportion to sales was 3.76 per cent last year, up from 3.65 per cent in 2017. Over the last decade, the ratio has steadily increased since 2009, when it was 2.62 per cent, KIAT said.

The combined operating profit of the 1,000 companies was 117 trillion won last year, up by 9.65 per cent from the previous year.

By size, large-scale R&D investment was concentrated at companies with more than 1,000 employees. Their combined R&D investments stood at 42.8 trillion won, accounting for 86.3 per cent of the total investment of the 1,000 companies.

By sector, manufacturing companies accounted for 77.2 per cent of the 1,000 companies and their R&D investments stood at 44.8 trillion won, 90.2 per cent.

THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK