As of January 1, 2020, there are 2,571 5G standard patents declared worldwide, of which Huawei has 3,147 to rank first, according to a report by German patent data company IPlytics.
That was followed by Samsung (2,795), ZTE (2,561), LG Electronics (2,300), Nokia (2149), and Ericsson (1,494).
In 2019, Huawei's R&D expenses reached RMB 131.7 billion (about $18.6 billion), accounting for 15.3% of its annual sales revenue, and are expected to exceed $20 billion by 2020.
At present, Huawei has 85,000 valid patents in the world, accounting for 90% of invention patents, and ranks first in the EU Patent Office with 3,524 patent applications.
To stay ahead of the curve, technological innovation is essential. Previously, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said that about 20-30 percent of Huawei's annual R&D spending is spent on research and innovation and 70 percent on product development.
