Recent data from market research firm TechInsights’ 2024 Global Semiconductor Company R&D Investment Report shows that the top 20 global semiconductor firms spent a total of $98.68 billion on R&D in 2024—up 17% year-over-year (YoY)—as industry tech competition heats up.
Among top players:
- Intel led with $16.546 billion in R&D (3.1% YoY growth), focusing heavily on foundry operations, especially R&D breakthroughs for its 18A (1.8nm) advanced process.
- NVIDIA followed with $12.5 billion (47% YoY surge), ramping up R&D amid its strong performance in the AI chip sector.
- Samsung Electronics emerged as a "dark horse": Its R&D spending jumped from $5.5 billion to $9.5 billion YoY, pushing its rank from 7th to 3rd. With a 71.3% YoY growth rate (the highest among top 20), TechInsights notes Samsung aims to break through on two fronts—competing with TSMC, Intel, and Rapidus in cutting-edge process nodes, while tackling fierce challenges in the sluggish DRAM and NAND flash markets (which have struggled for three years).
In terms of R&D as a percentage of sales, U.S. firms took the top spots: Intel (33.6%) led, followed by Broadcom (30.3%), Qualcomm (25.9%), and AMD (25.0%). The average for top 20 firms was 15.8%, while Samsung Electronics (11.7%) and SK Hynix (6.99%) fell below this mark. Notably, despite SK Hynix’s over 32% YoY R&D growth, its sales nearly doubled—lowering its R&D-to-sales ratio.
Looking ahead, TechInsights predicts NVIDIA could become the top R&D spender in semiconductors by 2025, potentially reshaping the industry’s top-tier landscape.
From ICgoodFind’s perspective, the 2024 surge in R&D spending by semiconductor giants reflects the industry’s focus on advanced processes and core tech. Top firms’ competitive moves will deeply influence the industry chain’s tech direction; future attention should center on aligning process breakthroughs with market demand.
