SEOUL, KOREA - Samsung Electronics ranked No. 2 in terms of R&D spending last year.According to the 2012 edition of the European Commission’s annual scoreboard of companies’R&D spending, German car maker Volkswagen spent the largest amount of money for R&D last year. It invested 9.5 billion euros for R&D last year,followed by Samsung Electronics with 8.3 billion euros.
Following them were Microsoft of the U.S. with 7.9 billion euros, Intel with 7.7 billion euros, and Toyota with 7.1 billion euros.Switzerland’s Roche and Novartis were positioned at No. 6 and 7 with 7 billion euros and 6.9 billion euros.
They were followed by U.S. firms—Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer which ranked No. 8, 9, and 10, respectively, with 6 billion euros, 5.8 billion euros,and 5.7 billion euros. The top-ten companies accounted for 13.3 percent of the total R&D expenditures spent by the 2,000 surveyed companies worldwide.