The Federation of Korean Industries announced on July 12 that the global top 100 ICT companies in terms of market capitalization include only two South Korean companies and they are Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the ninth and 56th places, respectively.
“The 100 companies include 56 U.S., nine Chinese, eight Japanese, four Indian and three Taiwanese,” the federation explained, adding, “They also include two South Korean, two Canadian, two U.K. and two German companies.”
According to the federation, the top 200 list includes only five South Korean companies and the other three are Samsung SDI (114th), Naver (120th) and Kakao (133rd). On the other hand, as many as 27 Chinese and 17 Japanese companies are found on the list.
When it comes to the top 100 in the semiconductor industry, only SK Hynix and SK Square are at the 11th and 63rd places whereas the Chinese, U.S. and Taiwanese entries are 41, 31 and 15 in number, respectively. “South Korea’s actual number is one in that SK Square is an investment company and the parent company to SK Hynix,” the federation said, adding, “The number of South Korean enterprises on the top 100 list in the sector stands at three even if Samsung Electronics, which is classified as a hardware manufacturer, is included in the list.”
The federation also pointed out that South Korean enterprises’ R&D investment-to-sales ratio is relatively low. “Their ratio is 7.4 percent whereas the figure is 17.1 percent, 15.4 percent, 13 percent and 9.5 percent in the United States, the Netherlands, Japan and Taiwan, respectively,” it said.
