Samsung ups the ante with R&D, to invest $9.3 billion in developing new technologies this year
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The focus on software efforts is pretty visible in the last few weeks - just in the mobile division Samsung hired the famous Cyanogen Android ROM modder, outed its own cross-platform ChatON messaging service, and is rumored to show interest in acquiring webOS from HP to bolster its tablet OS hedges.
$9.3 billion is a lot of money for R&D - Apple spent less than a third of that in the last 12 months, and Nokia, which was notorious for huge R&D expenses, spent less than a half of that in 2010. Samsung Electronics, of course, makes TVs and a lot of other assorted gadgetry, which it is now scaling down from, but this princely sum is catapulting it amongst the top spenders in the field. Moreover, Samsung already holds some 100 452 patents worldwide, 4 551 of which were earned 2010 in the US alone, placing it only second after IBM in patents acquired for a year.
For us spectators, this gigantic R&D splurge can only mean one thing - new smartphones and tablets with even greater specs. Hopefully the main battle in the mobile space will stay Apple vs Samsung next year as well, as these two have proved that cutthroat competition leads to great devices, litigation roadblocks notwithstanding.
source: Yonhap via mocoNews
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36 Comments
1. DROIDX0430 posted on 30 Aug 2011, 09:19 2 0
Samsung mobile--a tidy bit of advice. Take two cents out of the 9.3 billion you are investing and incorporate a notification LED on your $299.00 cell phones....the technology is already there, and you want get a lawsuit
2. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 09:20 5 2
for all those that wonder why samsung doesnt make as much as Apple, there ya go, apple spends 1/3rd on R&D compared to samsung (6 billion more for samsung!). Guess thats why samsungs hardware is king of the pile and apple borrows from others.
3. PeterIfromsweden posted on 30 Aug 2011, 09:24 3 4
A lot of that cash is definitely going to be spent on improving bada.
5. texasjkim (unregistered) posted on 30 Aug 2011, 09:35 2 0
Just wondering Peter...
Do you work for Samsung?? LOL
8. PeterIfromsweden posted on 30 Aug 2011, 10:02 2 1
I don't work for samsung, but i have as protezoleoz says, been programming apps for bada. However i have not done that the last year as i have been too busy. But with the Wave 3 coming i might find some time to start programming again. I have bada SDK installed on my computer ; )
7. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 30 Aug 2011, 09:56 3 1
I like where this is going. I remember those flexible, bendable Super AMOLED screens they were talking about. With that kind of funding in R&D, those screens could be pushed in a timely manner. Imagine what mobile phones will look like in 2 to 3 short years from now. I am all for this, Samsung is going for the win & I can't blame them. They in the last year & a half have shown me innovation & great ideas. Other companies not so much! I like Samsung’s dedication & commitment to moving the industry forward. Kudos to Samsung & I CAN’T wait to see what they have in store for us!
9. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 10:38 2 1
for real. they have been driving the mobile industry harder than anyone else for the last couple of years. And they keep pushing beyond what anyone else is doing. Samsung is probably at least 2-3 years ahead of everyone else when it comes to tech.
Not always happy with their UI's and software but their hardware is laping everyone else in the race.
12. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 30 Aug 2011, 11:58 2 1
I know what you mean. Samsung shows pride in pushing the tech forward. They have great ideas & I have to agree with you, they are about 2 to 3 years ahead. Now they are getting some high resolution Super AMOLED screens, & their phones are getting bigger in screen size yet thinner & thinner. Their UI's aren't the best BUT they are way better than most. TouchWiz to me is better than every other UI except HTC's Sense. Their hardware is the best, followed by HTC in a very close second. Everyone else is way back. Thus the 2 best selling Android device makers Samsung #1, HTC #2!
13. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 12:03 2 3
and with HTC they have to use the same components as everyone else since they dont design chips in house like sammy does. They have done a great job with sense and build quality to make themselves stand out while using the exact same equipment as everyone else. So there is no reason other manufacturers cant do as good of a job.
27. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 21:10 0 0
i love how i get thumbed down for complimenting HTC..lol
how dare I not bring up the iphone and its glory in a post!!!
33. biophone posted on 30 Aug 2011, 21:42 0 0
Dom't get caught up with the thumbing. I thumbed you upped btw
10. biophone posted on 30 Aug 2011, 11:40 0 5
Samsung does have great hardware but to me the software makes the phone. As long as its snappy that is good enough for me. They should buy webos and devolep that and create some killer software and I would buy from them. Until then No gs2 for me.
11. Knicknevin posted on 30 Aug 2011, 11:47 0 1
I believe that WebOS is a sinkhole. Let Google run the software train, just custom it to your phones, but as non-fat as possible.
14. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 12:05 1 1
webOS in its entirity is a hole, i agree with you there. But they could buy up webOS and use the good ideas like the cards or whatever and put them into android (by google) or through an overlay like touchwiz (by samsung) to further differentiate between android makers.
I was really hoping to see LG or Moto step in and try to buy the webOS for that very reason. LG is a poor copy of touchwiz and motoblur just kinda needs to dissapear.
15. biophone posted on 30 Aug 2011, 13:48 0 2
Right now it sucks. But instead of their crappy overlay on android touchwiz they should take webos keep what is good and build on that. If they got all this money then why not create a really good platform instead of using android. I like android but ti me their are only two elite platforms android and ios and if bb doesnt step up i think there is alot of money to be made if they can create there own elite platform. They have the hardware but the software is their problem. They could either improve touchwiz alot more then they did or buy webos. I feel they would better compete with apple with webos instead of just being another manufacturer of android. There is so many things they could improve on android with webos that they dont have controll over with android.
19. biophone posted on 30 Aug 2011, 14:08 0 0
As a side note they should still make android phones. Look at htc they make wp7 and android. Yes samsung makes bada but that is a waste lf time. They should just merge That with webos. Thats was hps mistake.
28. remixfa posted on 30 Aug 2011, 21:12 0 0
i think samsung is doing a pretty good job of competing with apple as it is. Thats why apple keeps trying to sue them out of competition instead of competing head to head.
If you think sammy is copying apple or not, sammy is leagues ahead of everyone when it comes to hardware and hardware desireability.
I think many of us android peeps drool over samsung specs the way isheep drool over the next iOS.. myself included.. lol
36. biophone posted on 30 Aug 2011, 22:40 0 0
Lawsuits aside right now samsung is reliant on android. Wp7 isnt that great of an os and neither ia bada. If thet bought webos and merged it with bada they could have a pretty good os which could compete with android and ios. They could merge apps and gives some really cool features. With their hardware and this improved software they would be a giant. Just make the ui not so cartoonish.
