R&D is an investment. So are buybacks. The powers that be have made the call that at this moment in time buybacks happen to be more lucrative than R&D. There i

R&D is an investment. So are buybacks. The powers that be have made the call that at this moment in time buybacks happen to be more lucrative than R&D. There is significant investment in R&D going on - happening in the form of investments in startups which will be targets of acquisition later on. Tangential thought: Startups are experiments that validate theories on product - market fit by generating positive cash flow. As a corollary, if you are a startup, your developers should be focused on validating that theory (iterating on MVP) and not fondly reminiscing and recreating Ginfrastructure(TM). Post acquisition, there will be a rewrite. As there is a drop in internal R&D, there will be a corresponding rise in acquisitions now or in the next few years. So it is a good time to be working in a startup - preferably one that is making money!