Apple R&D spending continues to grow in lockstep with iPhone, AR projects

“Apple spent almost $3.4 billion on research and development over the course of its second fiscal quarter of 2018, a $602 million year-over-year increase that brings the company’s six-month spend on future operations to nearly $6.8 billion,” Mikey Campbell reports for AppleInsider. “Detailed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Wednesday, Apple’s $3.38 billion outlay accounts for 6 percent of its net sales for the three-month period ending in March. The figure is down about $29 million from its record-setting 2018 holiday quarter.”

“Apple typically allots 4 percent or 5 percent to R&D — 4 percent in quarter one — leaving the 6 percent doled out this period on the high end of its range,” Campbell reports. “The company last hit 6 percent in the third quarter of 2017, just prior to the unveiling of iPhone 8 and iPhone X.”

“The increase in spending, as it relates to quarterly net sales, hints at work on projects that go beyond product maintenance,” Campbell reports. “Apple is widely rumored to launch a trio of new iPhone models later this year,… [and] beyond iPhone, Apple is investing heavily in augmented reality. The company’s efforts have so far been limited to iOS and ARKit, which recently received a few new features with the release of version 1.5 in iOS 11.3, but rumblings suggest big plans for the technology… The company is also moving ahead with its autonomous vehicle platform built from the remnants of ‘Project Titan.'”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: May Apple’s R&D investments bear much fruit!

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