“When comparing Apple to other big tech companies such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Facebook, the iPhone maker invests substantially less money than its peers in research and development, especially when measuring R&D spending as a percentage of revenue,” Andrés Cardenal writes for The Motley Fool. “Is Apple underinvesting in R&D, or do things just work differently for the company?”
“Steve Jobs was clearly one of the most successful and innovative business leaders in history. His vision and philosophy are still a big part of Apple’s culture, and he never believed that money was the most important factor when it came to driving successful innovation,” Cardenal writes. “In an interview with Fortune in 1998, Jobs noted: ‘Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.'”
“This is a crucial differentiation,” Cardenal writes. “The company’s leadership and culture can be much more important than money when it comes to making innovative breakthroughs. You can’t just buy your way to successful innovation when you don’t have the vision and skills.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: No company gets more bang for the buck than Apple.
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