Apple R&D spending hit $8.1B in 2015, suggests continued work on massive project
Apple in an SEC filing on Wednesday reported fiscal 2015 research and development expenditures topping $8 billion, illustrating the company's continued efforts toward new avenues of growth beyond the current iOS, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV platforms.
Apple Campus 2 Phase 2 testing facilities currently under construction.
At $8.07 billion, Apple's R&D expenditures accounted for about 3 percent of the company's total net sales for the 12-month period ending in September, the same portion of sales spent during 2014 and 2013. Maintaining a constant R&D spend ratio as sales skyrocketed afforded a funding increase of roughly $2.03 billion year over year, or 34 percent.
R&D is a vital line item for Apple, a company expected to deliver compelling cutting edge technology on a fairly regular basis. Alongside annual product line refreshes, Apple and its tech rivals are constantly looking to branch out into new segments, evidenced by this year's smartwatch platform race. Over the trailing 12 months, for example, Apple pushed out its usual assortment of incremental iPhone, iPad and Mac updates, while announcing or launching new devices like Apple Watch, the 12-inch Retina MacBook, iPad Pro and a revamped Apple TV.
For the most recent quarter Apple infused $2.2 billion into R&D operations equivalent to 4 percent of its record-breaking $51.5 billion in revenue. Spending is up $190 million sequentially, while year-over-year change is at 34 percent.
Apple does not disclose work on future projects, and products are often in development for years before shipping, but the swelling R&D outlay signals work on a massive project beyond expected upgrades. Rumors indicate the company is deep into development of an electric vehicle referred to internally as "Project Titan." Breaking into a heavy industry is no small task even for one of the world's largest companies, but billions of dollars in investment capital would make a nice seed fund.
Secret research labs, poaching of automotive engineers, and a handful of key acquisitions all lead to advanced development of a so-called "Apple Car." Most recently, Apple wooed the director of Nvidia's autonomous vehicle technology project, a hire that could be linked to the purchase of AI firm Perceptio.
Looking ahead, sources say Apple is mulling construction of a huge development center in San Jose that could one day be used for vehicle assembly. In a recent video of Apple's upcoming Campus 2 headquarters, AppleInsider highlighted construction of a series of buildings slated to become test facilities.
Apple is also putting capital toward R&D centers strategically located in tech industry hot spots around the world, including a presence in Yokohama, Japan, that some reports say will draw in vehicle and health technology experts.
Apple Campus 2 Phase 2 testing facilities currently under construction.
At $8.07 billion, Apple's R&D expenditures accounted for about 3 percent of the company's total net sales for the 12-month period ending in September, the same portion of sales spent during 2014 and 2013. Maintaining a constant R&D spend ratio as sales skyrocketed afforded a funding increase of roughly $2.03 billion year over year, or 34 percent.
R&D is a vital line item for Apple, a company expected to deliver compelling cutting edge technology on a fairly regular basis. Alongside annual product line refreshes, Apple and its tech rivals are constantly looking to branch out into new segments, evidenced by this year's smartwatch platform race. Over the trailing 12 months, for example, Apple pushed out its usual assortment of incremental iPhone, iPad and Mac updates, while announcing or launching new devices like Apple Watch, the 12-inch Retina MacBook, iPad Pro and a revamped Apple TV.
For the most recent quarter Apple infused $2.2 billion into R&D operations equivalent to 4 percent of its record-breaking $51.5 billion in revenue. Spending is up $190 million sequentially, while year-over-year change is at 34 percent.
Apple does not disclose work on future projects, and products are often in development for years before shipping, but the swelling R&D outlay signals work on a massive project beyond expected upgrades. Rumors indicate the company is deep into development of an electric vehicle referred to internally as "Project Titan." Breaking into a heavy industry is no small task even for one of the world's largest companies, but billions of dollars in investment capital would make a nice seed fund.
Secret research labs, poaching of automotive engineers, and a handful of key acquisitions all lead to advanced development of a so-called "Apple Car." Most recently, Apple wooed the director of Nvidia's autonomous vehicle technology project, a hire that could be linked to the purchase of AI firm Perceptio.
Looking ahead, sources say Apple is mulling construction of a huge development center in San Jose that could one day be used for vehicle assembly. In a recent video of Apple's upcoming Campus 2 headquarters, AppleInsider highlighted construction of a series of buildings slated to become test facilities.
Apple is also putting capital toward R&D centers strategically located in tech industry hot spots around the world, including a presence in Yokohama, Japan, that some reports say will draw in vehicle and health technology experts.
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Not to forget about the service backend, which is becoming massive in the past years, and will continue to grow rapidly.
I think Apple are waiting for the precise moment, to put out a 4K TV. Despite the falling price of TV, its BOM cost has changed over the years. Correct me if I am wrong as I haven't dive deep enough into this topic yet.
Thanks to the sales of Mobile Phones, Display Panel are now produced at a unprecedented scale. Which means the panel prices has been falling, but continue to be offset by the amount of electronics, software we put into our TV. H.265 decode, faster refresh rate.. etc
Recently the electronics of TV set finally cross 35% of BOM. And with more Wireless capacity going in, such as 6Ghz 802.11ad, the trend isn't likely to stop.
These less then ~110ppi display panel will soon becomes cheap enough that is next to commodities.
This is great news for humankind...a lot of life changing tech being developed with those $$$. If Apple keeps it up they could one day assist with properly advancing space colonization...and yes I am being serious.
Suggestions:
1. Buy a decent spelling dictionary. OS X is so stupid, it doesn't even know exceptionalism, a word in such common use, the Washington Post uses it in headlines.
2. Get a correct spelling lookup, so OS X isn't so stupid that a single set of transposed letters leaves it clueless.
3. Teach OS X the rules of English spelling. OS X thinks any legitimate pair of words joined by a hyphen is also legitimate spelling. Sorry, but it isn't. In English, you never hyphenate -ly adverbs with what follows. "Quickly-go" is misspelled but dull-witted OS X thinks it is correctly spelled. One result of that is that OS X users who aren't up on spelling rules look stupid.
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The result is a mess. Several times a day, I go through the same time-wasting process. OS X indicates a word is misspelled but doesn't offer an alternative. I cut-a-paste that misspelling into a Google search, and Google finds the correct spelling in an instant. What Apple can't do about a third the time, Google successfully does about 98% of the time. Google smart. Apple stupid. It is as simple as that. Apple needs to spend some money to give OS X a spell checker that wouldn't disgrace a 1980s-era word processing program.
I will be blunt. Apple needs a new slogan to replace "Think Different," it might try an honest one: "Where the illiterate listen to music, snap pictures and watch TV." That's a near-perfect description of the company's R&D spending. Lots of money for new music formats and the like. None for writing.
I just realized that we’re only a few years away from not only a crappy 3D feature-length film of The Flintstones and/or The Jetsons, but that it will corrupt the characters, story, and inject mentally ill modernist ideas.
Just you wait.