Samsung Electronics was the largest research and development spender in the world last year.<br />According to the 2018 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, the South Korean tech giant invested more than 15 billion U.S. dollars for R&D in 2017.<br />That amounts to an eleven-and-a-half percent increase compared to the previous year.<br />Samsung was followed by Google's holding company Alphabet and German auto giant Volkswagen.<br />It's the first time the South Korean company has taken the top spot since the data was first compiled in 2004. <br />
