Apple Ranks 91st in U.S. R&D Spending at $471M

November 30th, 2004 at 2:00 PM - TMO Scoop by Brad Gibson

Apple Computer ranked 91st among American businesses in spending on research and development in 2003, according to a just announced list from Technology Review magazine.

Apple spent US$471 million in 2003 on R&D, a 6% increase over 2002, or $25 million more than the previous year.

Apple R&D accounts for 8% of its sales, the survey showed. The Mac and iPod maker spends $34,719 on R&D for each of its employees.

The 2004 R&D Scorecard of the top 150 spenders showed Apple sixth among the top nine computer hardware makers in spending. IBM was first among computer companies and 19th overall, followed by Hewlett-Packard in second and 24th overall. In comparison, IBM spent $5 billion on R&D in 2003; HP spend $3.6 billion. IBM had a 7% increase in R&D spending, or $318 million more. HP spent 10% more, or $340 million.

The trend among computer manufacturers in 2003 was to spend less on R&D, with a .4% overall decline.