By Katie Davis I n today’s technology based world it is not acceptable to not take Research and Development (R&D) seriously and allocate funding for these projects. Companies are spending billions to get the completive edge on their competi- tion in a race to develop new products and services in every industry and sector. It must also be said that funding for R&D covers a large area of spending and companies calculate their R&D spending in different ways. So in saying that what one company considers R&D another may not. One thing that is very clear and that we do know is that the Amazon and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, are pulling away from their U.S. peers and other industry leaders when it comes to research and development spending. This is an amazing accomplishment given that neither Amazon nor Alphabet were seen in the global top 10 just four years ago and both will soon surpass Volkswagen to become the world’s R&D leaders. TOP TEN R&D OVERALL GLOBAL LEADERS* Volkswagen – Automaker $15.1 Billion Amazon - Electronic Commerce Company $14.2 Billion Alphabet (Google) - Technology, life sciences, investment capital, and research company $13.5 Billion Samsung – Technology, Shipbuilder, Heavy Equipment, Engineering and Construction Company $12.6 Billion Intel - Semiconductor Manufacturing Company $12.4 Billion Microsoft - Technology Company $12.0 Billion Roche - Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics Company $10.6 Billion Apple - Technology Company $9.7 Billion Johnson & Johnson - Pharmaceutical Company $9.3 Billion Toyota – Automaker $9.1 Billion
*Numbers are from trailing 12 months research and development spending from most recent quarter available for publicly traded companies only.
Of course it goes without saying that Volkswagen executives might have wished that they had spent a few more Euros on emissions research.
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SEPTEMBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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