Samsung R&D spending reached record $9 billion in 2011

Samsung has bumped up its research and development investment to the largest in the company’s history. Samsung R&D spending reached a record $9.1 billion (10.3 trillion won) in 2011. This is the first time the Korean company goes over 10 trillion won in spending.
In addition to that, Samsung also invested nearly $20.1 billion (22.7 trillion won) in manufacturing plants. If you sum it all up, the Koreans spent nearly $29 billion on its research projects and manufacturing upgradesin 2011.
Samsung is also expected to continue growing R&D spending while most other companies cut it. Rivals in display technologies like Sony and LG are dropping or - at best - keeping investments stable, but overall research spending is on the decline.