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Apple is the top spender on R&D, as a percentage of its revenue. Second is Google. 3rd Samsung, 4th Amazon, 5th 3M. [1] Xerox had about 10 years of glorious mo

by shas3 13y ago

Apple is the top spender on R&D, as a percentage of its revenue. Second is Google. 3rd Samsung, 4th Amazon, 5th 3M. [1] Xerox had about 10 years of glorious moon-shot type research. IBM is notoriously fickle about spending on R&D. The only exception is Bell Labs, which succeeded due to a combination of a number of factors [2]. There wasn't any grand vision underlying it, just the interest to grab the best and the brightest, during a time when there was far less silo-ing and over-specialization than today. [1] http://www.booz.com/global/home/what-we-think/global-innovation-1000/top-innovators-spenders/52802974 http://www.booz.com/global/home/what-we-think/global-innovat... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/books/review/the-idea-factory-by-jon-gertner.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/books/review/the-idea-fact...

chalst 13y ago
Please look again at the figures in the link you provide: Apple is larger than each of the companies I mentioned (very slightly larger than Samsung by 2012 sales; I'm not sure why 3M is in your list - they are 1/4 the size of Apple in a far lower margin industry), and spends less in absolute terms on R&D than each, and far less as a percentage of revenue. IBM has an excellent track record of scientific contributions, has an excellent research institute, and I gather is good about things like giving its employees time to write scientific articles and providing support to employees who wish to pursue PhDs. Xerox PARC still exists and still does good, publically visible research. I don't see what "grand vision" has to do with anything.
- shas3 13y ago
  Note, the rankings are: > as a percentage of its revenue. Also, regarding 3M, I am not sure what you mean by 'far lower margin industry'. 3M is a conglomerate. It's like GE, in some sense- doesn't play in any single industry, but in several tens of industries.
  - chalst 13y ago
    I think that ranking cannot be by %age R&D spend. Taking the R&D expenditure from your link, and turnover from the accounts for 2012, we have (money values in $bn): R&D Turnover R&D/turnover Apple 3.4 156 2.2% Samsung 10.4 188 5.5%

by shas3 13y ago

chalst 13y ago

Please look again at the figures in the link you provide: Apple is larger than each of the companies I mentioned (very slightly larger than Samsung by 2012 sales; I'm not sure why 3M is in your list - they are 1/4 the size of Apple in a far lower margin industry), and spends less in absolute terms on R&D than each, and far less as a percentage of revenue. IBM has an excellent track record of scientific contributions, has an excellent research institute, and I gather is good about things like giving its employees time to write scientific articles and providing support to employees who wish to pursue PhDs. Xerox PARC still exists and still does good, publically visible research. I don't see what "grand vision" has to do with anything.

shas3 13y ago
Note, the rankings are: > as a percentage of its revenue. Also, regarding 3M, I am not sure what you mean by 'far lower margin industry'. 3M is a conglomerate. It's like GE, in some sense- doesn't play in any single industry, but in several tens of industries.
- chalst 13y ago
  I think that ranking cannot be by %age R&D spend. Taking the R&D expenditure from your link, and turnover from the accounts for 2012, we have (money values in $bn): R&D Turnover R&D/turnover Apple 3.4 156 2.2% Samsung 10.4 188 5.5%