Dubai, UAE — Samsung Electronics spent nearly 90 trillion won ($59.2 billion) on capital expenditure and research and development in 2025, making it the largest investor among the world’s top 10 semiconductor companies, according to industry data released on Wednesday.
The South Korean technology giant invested 89.9 trillion won during the year, comprising 52.2 trillion won in capital expenditure and 37.7 trillion won in research and development, according to data compiled by corporate tracker CEO Score and reported by Yonhap News Agency.
AI boom fuels industry investment
The semiconductor sector is undergoing one of its largest investment cycles in decades as demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure drives spending across the industry.
Global semiconductor sales exceeded $620 billion in 2024 and are expected to approach $700 billion in 2025, according to industry estimates, with AI-related chips accounting for an increasingly large share of growth. Demand for advanced processors, memory chips and data-center infrastructure has surged as technology companies expand AI capabilities.
The race has also intensified competition among manufacturers seeking to secure leadership in advanced process technologies and specialized AI components.
Memory leadership at stake
Samsung remains the world’s largest memory-chip maker, competing with rivals in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), a critical component used alongside AI accelerators developed by companies such as NVIDIA.
The company has been investing heavily to strengthen its position in both memory and contract chip manufacturing, where it competes with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest foundry operator.
Industry analysts expect AI-related demand to remain a major growth driver for memory suppliers as hyperscale cloud providers continue expanding data-center capacity.
Asia dominates semiconductor production
East Asia remains the center of global chip manufacturing, with South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and China accounting for much of the world’s semiconductor production capacity.
Governments across the United States, Europe and Asia have launched multi-billion-dollar initiatives to expand domestic chip manufacturing amid concerns over supply-chain resilience and technological competitiveness.
Major chipmakers including Samsung, TSMC and Intel Corporation are collectively committing hundreds of billions of dollars to new fabrication plants, advanced packaging facilities and research programs over the remainder of the decade.
Long-term technology bets
Samsung’s spending reflects the industry’s growing emphasis on research-intensive technologies, including advanced memory architectures, next-generation process nodes and AI-focused semiconductor designs.
The company’s combined capital and R&D expenditure underscores the scale of investment required to remain competitive in a sector where technological advances increasingly depend on large, sustained commitments of capital.
