Brussels, 18/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - According to the European Commission's latest EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard published on Monday 18 November, the German carmaker Volkswagen is the world's largest private sector R&D investor with an investment of €9.5billion in 2012. Overall, EU-based firms (527 companies) stepped up R&D investment by 6.3%, just above the average of the 2,000 firms in the Scoreboard (+6.2%). However, like last year, they lagged behind their US counterparts (+8.2%). EU companies also showed a mixed performance depending on the sector, with strong R&D growth in some but stagnation or decline elsewhere. EU Scoreboard companies surveyed expect to increase their R&D investments by 2.6 % on average per year for the period 2013-2015, a fall in expectations over the previous year.
The 6.2% increase on average in R&D growth of the Scoreboard companies came despite a slowdown of net sales growth (+4.2% compared with +9.9% in 2011) and a 10.1% decline in operating profits in 2012. The EU's overall positive results were largely driven by the R&D growth rates of German companies, particularly in the automobile sector. Second place in the ranking goes to Samsung Electronics from South Korea with investment of €8.3 billion. Other companies in the top 10 include five based in the US (Microsoft, Intel, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer), two in Switzerland (Roche and Novartis) and one in Japan (Toyota).
EU-based companies in the automobiles and parts sector showed strong R&D growth (+14.4% as against -2.6% for their US counterparts). EU companies also outperformed US ones in industrial engineering (+12.3% compared with +9.4%) and aerospace and defence (+9.5% compared with -1.3%). Results of EU companies in the ICT sector were mixed, with software and computer services performing well (+14.2%) but showing a decline in IT hardware (-2.3%). In contrast, US-based companies performed well across both sectors (+12.6% and +14.8% respectively).
An analysis of trends over the last 10 years shows that the US continues to increase its specialisation in R&D intensive sectors such as ICT and health. Nevertheless, some EU companies are performing well in these sectors. (OL/transl.fl)