Apple Spent $3.4 Billion on Research in 2012
One billion dollars more than 2011.
Apple has a lot of money. Earlier this year, the company's co-founder made headlines when he said he thought the company would eventually $1000 per share making it a trillion-dollar company. For now, the company has a market cap of just over $560 billion. So what does a company like that spend on research?
According to an SEC filing the company published yesterday, Apple spent an extra billion dollars in research in 2012 compared to research spending for 2011. The company wrote in the filing that it depends heavily upon its ability to 'ensure a continual and timely flow of competitive products' and that it continues to develop new products. Total R&D spending for the year was $3.4 billion. This is compared to $2.4 billion in 2012, and just $1.8 billion the year before, in 2010.
Though it might sound like a huge chunk of change, it's still quite a small amount relative to Apple's net sales. Apple reported that this year's $3.4 billion is just 2 percent of net sales. This is equal to the percentage of net sales in 2011, and actually less than the 3 percent of net sales in 2010. It's also not that much when you look at what others are spending. The Verge points out that Microsoft spent $10 billion, which is 15 percent of its net sales.

Pretty much. Microsoft spends around $10Bn per year on R&D or more. IBM probably spends more than that.
That's one billion these ba$tards forced out of Samsung!
So it must have gone to the "thermonuclear war" division?
It's expensive to 'think different'.
Pretty much. Microsoft spends around $10Bn per year on R&D or more. IBM probably spends more than that.
there fixed it for you
Sound like it should be 2011
Anyway, Samsung is building a 385k sqft R&D center near Google. Competition is always great.
a 7.9 in ipad lol
Apple does not design nor make the display or the the hard drive; just the custom design of the A6 seems tho be their own. Prob mostly to insure they can include some mechanism for the OS to be working only on the Apple chips and therefore keeping the clone makers away.
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.
Perhaps if they actually get the money (though I suspect, in the end, they will not), they can use it to try to make their phones more competitive on the open market, rather than having to rely on attempts to compete via litigation...
Tim Cook: "By golly that is amazing. This will change everything. We have to do more though."
R&D Dept: "I think with more funding we might be able to come up with several more colors."
Tim Cook: "Unbelievable. This will remake the world as we know it. Make it happen."
...meanwhile...
Steve Jobs: "You know if you sent me a new pancreas this shat wouldn't be happening"
Jesus: "I know, I know. I should have yanked it out of Cook. I really thought the liver would have bought you enough time."