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Apple upped R&D spending by $1B last year, still outspent nearly 3:1 by Microsoft

Published Nov 1st, 2012 8:02PM EDT
Apple R&D Spending

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Apple (AAPL) is the world’s most profitable consumer electronics company by a wide margin and continued innovation is a key factor in maintaining that huge lead. While some believe Apple is slipping when it comes to innovation, the company continues to make big investments in research and development in an effort to push its technologies forward in new and exciting ways.

Apple’s year-end filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission for fiscal 2012 reveals that the company spent $3.4 billion on R&D last year, up $1 billion from fiscal 2011, according to The Next Web. As staggering as that sum might seem, a similar filing from Microsoft (MSFT) reveals its year-end total: $9.8 billion.

These long-time rivals have launched a number of exciting new products in recent months and years — iOS, the iPhone, the MacBook Air, the iPad, Windows Phone, the Surface tablet and Windows 8 come to mind — but judging from the amount they’re currently spending on future technologies, we haven’t seen anything yet.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.