2026-01-09 10:28:06

I recently came across data published by the European Union, revealing the 2024 global top 2000 companies by R&D investment, with a total investment exceeding €1.4 trillion.

Interestingly, the top 5 in the R&D investment list are almost entirely dominated by US IT technology companies. Amazon remains in first place with an investment of €65.3 billion, followed by Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple. These five tech giants alone have R&D expenditures reaching €215 billion, accounting for 15% of the total R&D investment by private enterprises. Compared to 8% in 2018, this proportion has doubled.

How do Chinese companies perform on this list? Huawei ranks 6th, Tencent is 20th. Among the top 20, US companies occupy 13 spots, leading by a wide margin. China and Germany each have 2 companies, while South Korea, Switzerland, and the UK each have 1. Looking further down, Alibaba is 31st, Xiaomi 77th, and ZTE 80th.

What does this reflect? Overall, US tech companies still hold an absolute advantage in R&D investment. However, it also indicates that the global tech competition landscape is continuously evolving, with companies around the world increasing their R&D efforts. Who will seize the next wave of opportunities remains uncertain.

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tokenomics_truther

· 19h ago

The five major US giants double their R&D investment, Huawei closely follows at #6... This is the gap in strength, pouring more money in just means having no bottom line.

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OnchainFortuneTeller

· 01-09 12:51

Amazon 65.3 billion euros, this number looks a bit despairing... Can we catch up? The Big Five in the US have 215 billion, accounting for 15%, this level of monopoly is indeed outrageous. Huawei is still okay at 6th place, but the gap behind is a bit large. 15% has doubled, US technology has indeed accelerated in the past two years. By the way, Xiaomi is only ranked 77th, which seems a bit underestimated. R&D investment competition ultimately comes down to how deep your pockets are. This ranking is a bit face-slapping, thinking about it carefully is quite terrifying. However, countries are all competing in R&D, who knows what the next track will be.

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fren_with_benefits

· 01-09 10:53

The five American companies are really crushing it. The figure of 65.3 billion euros makes my head buzz. Huawei is still doing pretty well at #6, but the domestic giants behind are a bit scattered. This is the R&D built on piles of cash. Whoever has more bullets gets to call the shots. The ratio has doubled. What does this mean? Everyone is competing in R&D. Regarding cryptos and Web3, can we see any trends from these data? The AI arms race really never ends. R&D expenses of tech companies are like venture capital funding. Who will be the next Black Hat? It feels hard to predict. America's moat is still deep. Surpassing it is a long and arduous journey. Tencent at #20 is a bit underestimated. If the domestic market were larger, it would probably rank higher.

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SighingCashier

· 01-09 10:39

The five major tech giants in the US directly account for 15% of global private R&D investment... Why is the gap so huge? Huawei ranks 6th and is still somewhat competitive, but Tencent being outside the top 20 is a bit uncomfortable. These US companies' ability to burn money is truly terrifying, with investment doubling rapidly. By the way, our corporate R&D investment is simply not in the same league as theirs. The short-term situation of US tech monopoly is probably very difficult to shake. Big companies like Alibaba and Xiaomi also didn't make it into the top ten, which is a bit of a blow. The gap in R&D investment is the most critical; the more money you burn, the more intense the innovation. Ten years ago, I didn't think so, but looking back, US tech companies are really accelerating the gap. So, relying solely on individual companies' efforts can't compete with the entire ecosystem.

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MemeCoinSavant

· 01-09 10:34

ngl the US big five hoarding 15% of ALL private R&D spend is actually unhinged... like statistically speaking this concentration ratio suggests we're watching a genuine paradigm shift in capital allocation patterns, fr fr

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