Apple Spent $3.4 Billion on Research in 2012

[ojas]

...and spent $34 billion on lawyers...

 

[penguintech]

this is insane....

 

[arcticfury]

But how much of the profit is usable? Much of it is sitting in overseas banks in order to evade US taxes thanks to tax code loopholes.

 

[vishnusivathej]

all the billions spend on research and R&D and they finally come up with 4" dual core 4g phone.. and 7" sorry 7.8" tablet...

Damn.. are these guys recruiting engineers or as***les in R&D.

 

[The_Trutherizer]

I wonder how much iMaps cost them.

 

[blackened144]

[citation][nom]Camikazi[/nom]You are right on the A6/X that is an in-house item (their first in-house CPU BTW) now the display and the fusion drives didn't take that much R&D since they didn't do it. Those things were researched and created by others all Apple did was tell the makers what they wanted and let them do the work, doesn't seem like much R&D there really.[/citation]
Yes, all Apple did was tell the makers what they wanted, but they still paid for the R&D that went into the displays and fusion drives. Those other companies didnt do that for free. Just because the R&D wasnt "in-house" doesnt mean anything as far as their R&D budget goes.

 

[schnitter]

3.4 billion? Where did that money go? We know not to the Terrible maps.... Oh 3.4 billion researching which companies they can sue and how many times to sue each?

 

[socialfox]

That picture says it all, I am sure they're up to a devious plan. At least they are making their OWN ideas now.

 

[gogogadgetliver]

[citation][nom]blackened144[/nom]Yes, all Apple did was tell the makers what they wanted, but they still paid for the R&D that went into the displays and fusion drives. Those other companies didnt do that for free. Just because the R&D wasnt "in-house" doesnt mean anything as far as their R&D budget goes.[/citation]

Paying for the product that results from another companies R&D is not the same as paying for that companies R&D. You are paying for a product, the company retains their R&D investment and resulting patents and barring any exclusive deals sells it to others. Seagate pioneered the SSD+HDD hybrid and they did not did not do it because Apple asked them to. Retina displays required no R&D at all since high ppi displays existed before apple ever stuck them in a device. I'm sure some R&D went into the A6 but most of the gains are from die shrink which is investment the foundry makes (and uses for others chips as well)

 

[gogogadgetliver]

[citation][nom]Schnitter[/nom]3.4 billion? Where did that money go? We know not to the Terrible maps.... Oh 3.4 billion researching which companies they can sue and how many times to sue each?[/citation]

2.4 billion. It's only *going to be* 3.4. And you got a big iPod for it. WTF do you greedy people want?

 

[walter87]

[citation][nom]clubsaucekiller[/nom]Microsoft spends $10 billion and comes out with... what? Surface? Apple is getting a lot more done with a lot less.[/citation]

[citation][nom]soo-nah-mee[/nom]Really? How about Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 (flat out BETTER than iPhone, save for the sparse ecosystem), just to name a couple? Microsoft is not a hardware company and you list the FIRST computer they have ever built as the only product of their research?[/citation]
Also, Microsoft has a little hardware division called XBOX too lol.

Amazing the ignorance of some people...
People don't realize what R&D includes. Include salaries for your engineers and design teams, specialized test equipment, CapEx etc.

 

[bllue]

[citation][nom]clubsaucekiller[/nom]Microsoft spends $10 billion and comes out with... what? Surface? Apple is getting a lot more done with a lot less.[/citation]
They R&D beyond products they sell. They R&D on new technologies, new software, etc for a wide range of use. Unlike Apple, they don't sit in piles of cash. They put to use, good use.

 

[beayn]

It's clear from this that Apple is not innovating anymore. Spending so little on R&D while posting such massive profits while at the same time, giving 1/5th of the dividends of an average tech company might start scaring off investors in the future.

 

[beayn]

[citation][nom]clubsaucekiller[/nom]Microsoft spends $10 billion and comes out with... what? Surface? Apple is getting a lot more done with a lot less.[/citation]Apple has their ipod, ipad and iphone which are all basically the same devices. Then they have macs which are limited in hardware variations. Microsoft has to deal with limitless hardware configurations for PCs. They have phones, tablets and are developing another mp3 player I believe. Plus they have MS Office and XBox with a new Xbox in development. Then you have the enterprise sector. Developing and adopting new technologies for enterprise takes huge amounts of R&D.

MS has a much broader range of products than Apple. I would hope their R&D budget is bigger. You certainly can't compare Apple's products and say they're getting a lot more done with a lot less without looking at all sectors involved.