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Apple R&D spending reached record levels last quarter

Upper West Side Apple Store



To say that Apple had a stellar holiday quarter would be an understatement. For the quarter gone by, Apple recorded just over $18 billion in profits, enough to make it the most profitable quarter in corporate history.

But lest anyone think Apple is easing up on the throttle, the company remains as committed to innovative endeavors as ever. Case in point: the company during its most recent quarter spent more on research and development (R&D) than ever before.

In their quarterly earnings report, Apple relayed that it spent $1.895 billion on R&D, up from $1.3 billion during the same quarter a year-ago. Apple's previous high for R&D expenses clocked in at $1.6 billion during the company's June quarter.

Of the uptick in R&D spending this past quarter, Apple writes:

The growth in R&D expense during the first quarter of 2015 compared to the first quarter of 2014 was driven primarily by an increase in headcount and related expenses, including share-based compensation costs, and machinery and equipment to support expanded R&D activities. The Company continues to believe that focused investments in R&D are critical to its future growth and competitive position in the marketplace and are directly related to timely development of new and enhanced products that are central to the Company's core business strategy. As such, the Company expects to make further investments in R&D to remain competitive.

As we detailed earlier this week, just because Apple doesn't hold flashy press conferences to detail the crazy new prototypes they're working with, it doesn't mean they're not innovating or that they're "boring."

via AppleInsider