Intel Outspends Rivals In R&D: 28% More Than Nvidia, 156% More Than AMD
(Friday September 05, 2025 @11:20AM (BeauHD)
from the eyebrow-raising dept.)
Intel [1]shelled out $16.5 billion on R&D in 2024 , outspending Nvidia by 28% and AMD by 156%, with much of the cash going into chip design, fabrication tech, and the upcoming Nova Lake architecture. "When you compare the R&D expenditures to the amount of revenue, though, the story takes on a very different look," notes PC Gamer. "Intel spent 31% of its net revenue, and 26% for AMD, but Nvidia and Samsung got by on just 10% and 4%, respectively." From the report:
> An analysis of research and development expenditure by TechInsights was reported by [2]Korea JoongAng Daily , but you can get the numbers yourself by pulling up each company's 2024 financial results. For example, AMD declared that it spent $6.456 billion last year ( [3]pdf , page 1) on R&D, whereas Nvidia [4]forked out $12.914 billion. It's worth noting that Nvidia's financial statements are numbered one year ahead of the actual period (FY 2026 is 2025 and so on).
>
> Anyway, those figures pale in comparison to how much cash Intel burned through in 2024 to research and develop chip, fabrication technologies, software, and all kinds of tech stuffâ"a staggering $16.546 billion ( [5]pdf , page 25). That's 28% more than Nvidia and a frankly unbelievable 156% more than AMD. The nearest non-US semiconductor firm is Samsung Electronics, which spent a reported $9.5 billion on R&D. That would place third, comfortably ahead of AMD, and it strongly suggests that if you have your own foundries for making chips, you need to spend a lot of cash on finding ways to make better processors.
[1] https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/intel-spent-so-much-cash-on-research-and-development-last-year-that-it-outspent-nvidia-by-28-percent-and-amd-by-a-whopping-156-percent/
[2] https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-09-02/business/tech/Samsung-hikes-RD-spending-a-worldtopping-71-percent/2389595
[3] https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_0fe5f5a4cf1d169c12435555bc42ec4f/amd/db/841/9090/financial_tables_pdf/Q4+2024+Gaap+and+Non-Gaap+Earnings+Tables.pdf
[4] https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2025
[5] https://www.intc.com/filings-reports/all-sec-filings/content/0000050863-25-000009/0000050863-25-000009.pdf
> An analysis of research and development expenditure by TechInsights was reported by [2]Korea JoongAng Daily , but you can get the numbers yourself by pulling up each company's 2024 financial results. For example, AMD declared that it spent $6.456 billion last year ( [3]pdf , page 1) on R&D, whereas Nvidia [4]forked out $12.914 billion. It's worth noting that Nvidia's financial statements are numbered one year ahead of the actual period (FY 2026 is 2025 and so on).
>
> Anyway, those figures pale in comparison to how much cash Intel burned through in 2024 to research and develop chip, fabrication technologies, software, and all kinds of tech stuffâ"a staggering $16.546 billion ( [5]pdf , page 25). That's 28% more than Nvidia and a frankly unbelievable 156% more than AMD. The nearest non-US semiconductor firm is Samsung Electronics, which spent a reported $9.5 billion on R&D. That would place third, comfortably ahead of AMD, and it strongly suggests that if you have your own foundries for making chips, you need to spend a lot of cash on finding ways to make better processors.
[1] https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/intel-spent-so-much-cash-on-research-and-development-last-year-that-it-outspent-nvidia-by-28-percent-and-amd-by-a-whopping-156-percent/
[2] https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-09-02/business/tech/Samsung-hikes-RD-spending-a-worldtopping-71-percent/2389595
[3] https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_0fe5f5a4cf1d169c12435555bc42ec4f/amd/db/841/9090/financial_tables_pdf/Q4+2024+Gaap+and+Non-Gaap+Earnings+Tables.pdf
[4] https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-announces-financial-results-for-fourth-quarter-and-fiscal-2025
[5] https://www.intc.com/filings-reports/all-sec-filings/content/0000050863-25-000009/0000050863-25-000009.pdf