Fundamental research. For example, Karl Alex Müller discovered super-conductivity while working at IBM's Swiss research lab and later won the Nobel prize for th

Fundamental research. For example, Karl Alex Müller discovered super-conductivity while working at IBM's Swiss research lab and later won the Nobel prize for that (http://www.uzh.ch/about/portrait/nobelprize_en.html http://www.uzh.ch/about/portrait/nobelprize_en.html). Also, they invented the scanning electron microscope, along with other discoveries relevant at nano-scale. IBM is one of the very few companies that does fundamental research with a time-horizon of decades, and not just one product cycle.