Samsung Electronics invested a record 37.7 trillion won ($25.7 billion) in research and development during 2025, a year marked by significant global economic headwinds, according to its newly released 2025 business report. This substantial investment underscores Samsung’s commitment to technological innovation and future growth.
This R&D expenditure represents a 7.8 percent increase compared to the 35 trillion won invested in the previous year, translating to a daily investment exceeding 100 billion won in cutting-edge technology development.
Industry analysts suggest a considerable portion of this investment was strategically allocated to the development of next-generation memory technologies, particularly High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM). This focus reflects Samsung’s efforts to maintain a competitive edge in the rapidly expanding market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, driven by surging demand.
Samsung emphasized that its HBM4 technology leverages a sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM process, positioning it a generation ahead of competing technologies in the market.
This advanced chip boasts data transfer speeds of 11.7 gigabits per second, surpassing the standard established by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), the global semiconductor standards organization, by approximately 46 percent.
Furthermore, Samsung’s capital expenditures on facilities, encompassing semiconductors, displays, and other business areas, reached 52.7 trillion won last year. This figure exceeds the company’s initial investment plan by over 5 trillion won.
Samsung explained that this increased spending is aimed at strengthening future production capabilities, including the ongoing construction of the NRD-K advanced R&D complex located at its Giheung campus in Gyeonggi Province.
The business report also revealed Samsung’s five largest customers in 2025: Alphabet, Apple, Deutsche Telekom, Hong Kong-based Techtronic Industries, and Supreme Electronics. Notably, Alphabet replaced Verizon on the list compared to the previous year.
As of the end of 2025, Samsung’s total inventory was valued at 52.64 trillion won, reflecting a 1.7 percent increase from the 51.76 trillion won recorded a year earlier.
Inventory represented 9.3 percent of Samsung’s total assets, a decrease from 10.1 percent in the prior year, indicating improved inventory management.
yeeun
