Semiconductor industry R&D spend grew by 0.5% in 2015, which was the smallest increase since the 2009 downturn year and significantly below the CAGR of 4% in R&D expenditures during the last 10 years, according to IC Insights' McClean RePort 2016. The half-percent increase nudged worldwide R&D spending by semiconductor companies to a new record-high level of $56.4 billion in 2015 from the previous peak of $54.1 billion set in 2014.