CTO Journal

This is true not only in absolute dollar term but also true as a percentage of revenue. In fact, Microsoft spends more on R&D among all the IT and software companies – in both absolute dollar terms as well as percentage of revenue.

Have a look at the data below. I have picked it up from a post in Infoworld by Ted Samson.

It was a surprise to see Oracle so high up in the list but I guess it may be a legacy from Sun. However, what is more surprising is to see Apple and HP spending so less on R&D.

I poked around a little to cross check the validity of the data – it appears indicatively accurate. In fact Microsoft R&D spending may be little understated. (See Microsoft R&D Spending, Comparative R&D Spending and Oracle R&D Spending).

Here is another chart from Business Insider which is based on 2009 data.

So, it would be foolish to write-off Microsoft in mobile. They have a habit of bouncing back and taking the lead after late start. Let us wait and watch where Microsoft will it be in ten years?