About Those R&D Numbers

About Those R&D Numbers — Several readers wrote into comment about the numbers Apple was bandying around in relation to the research and development budgets. The Apple executives said that other PC vendors devote only 1 to 2 percent of sales to R&D. That may be true, but it doesn’t take into account the fact that other vendors pay licensing fees to Microsoft, in part to account for Microsoft’s R&D on Windows 95. In addition, I said that Apple was aiming to cut the ATG (Advanced Technology Group) budget to 5 percent of sales; I should have said that Apple plans to cut the total R&D budget to 5 percent of sales, since ATG is only a part of Apple’s overall research efforts. [ACE]