Samsung is the leader of multiple technology markets across the globe. Love them or hate them, they sell the most Android smartphones each and every quarter and this also puts them at the top of the heap when it comes to all smartphones too. The IDC reports that Samsung shipped over 72 million smartphones in Q3 of last year while Apple held onto second place with just over 45 million shipments. This was even down compared to 2015 when Samsung shipped almost 84 million smartphones during Q3.
Considering how many components Samsung manufactures themselves, it makes sense to see them investing so much money into research and development. In 2015, reports showed that Samsung was in the #2 spot when it came to research and development spending worldwide. The company invested $14.1 billion and the only company that bested them was Volkswagen who invested $15.3 billion. Other notable appearances here had Intel in 3rd, Microsoft in 4th, Google in 6th and Apple in 18th.
So last year, it seems as if Samsung has shifted its focus a bit and has started to acquire technologies through mergers and full-on acquisitions. We saw this recently with Harman and then it happened again with Viv. But it's not as if Samsung has cut research and development spending by a lot. Data shown off by the company this month tells us that Samsung spent $13.2 billion on research and development last year. This is actually 7.3% of the company's total revenue for that year.
In comparison, Samsung spent $13.19 billion on research and development in 2015 and then another $13.6 billion in 2014. So we are seeing a decrease in spending year over year, but it's not as if the number is drastically decreasing. Samsung has also been focusing on expanding its manufacturing capabilities to meet demands, and invested $22.65 billion last year to do just that.