Samsung Electronics has significantly increased its R&D investment despite a sharp drop in earnings. br According to the company's quarterly report released on Friday, its research and development expenditure stood at 4-point-24 billion U.S. dollars for the January-to-March period.br That is slightly lower than the all-time high of 4-point-47 billion dollars reached in the last quarter of 2018... but it marks the second straight quarter that the firm's R&D spending has surpassed the 4-billion dollar mark. br With its plans to invest big in semiconductors... as well as 5G, AI and other future growth engines,... Samsung's total R&D spending in 2019 is expected to reach almost 17-billion dollars.