Samsung Unveils Plans To Build Five New Research And Development Centers
A Samsung official who spoke to The Korea Times revealed that Samsung has plans to build five new Research and Development centers in South Korea, a project that will cost approximately $4.5 billion. The centers will each focus on their own aspects of R&D, with one being used for maximizing creativity, another for study and development of different components and materials.
Such a move is the by-product of belief that research and development is necessary for continuing success in the technology industry as time moves on. The Samsung official went on to state that "heated competition" in the market influences its preparation and how it "copes". The company has been ramping up its R&D spending in recent years, having increased last year to 11.9 trillion won over 2011's 10.3 trillion in spending.
Of the five new centers, one will be the R5 building, an 800 billion won investment that will be used for developing smart devices and will be located in Suwon. Near this building with be another center for developing parts for the purpose of studying next-gen components and materials that will potentially be implemented in the company's future devices.
A 1.2 trillion won center will be located in southern Seoul within Woomyeon-dong, this one said to be "cutting-edge" and slated for operation in June of 2014. A reported 10,000 designers, strategists, and developers will be located at this facility. And finally, there are two centers slated for construction in Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, both of which will be used for flat-screen and chipset research.
Said one Samsung researcher: "R&D may not generate tangible results in the short term. But the key point is that Samsung can't survive, if it fails to develop products that can give value to customers. Much of the remarkable progress in fields such as mobile computing and medicine has been possible thanks to the advancement of information technology backed increased spending on research."
SOURCE: Torrent Freak