2018 R&D Spending Increase By Firms Within Digital Economy

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. - June 26, 2017 - PRLog -- According to the newly released 41st annual edition of R&D Ratios & Budgets from Schonfeld & Associates, Inc., research and development spending in 2018 is growing robustly in firms within the digital economy. The top three, Amazon, Alphabet and Apple, are each increasing spending by over 14% to levels exceeding $14 billion. The next two in rank of spending, Intel and Microsoft, are essential suppliers to the digital world.

The pharmaceutical industry continues to be the biggest R&D investor with drug companies increasing their budgets over 3% to spend over $104 billion. Pharmaceutical firms will continue significant R&D spending in 2018. Roche, the top spender at $11.7 billion, is followed by Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Novartis, Astrazeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene, each projected to spend over $6 billion. The biotech industry is growing R&D by 10% to over $24 billion. Electromedical apparatus makers, led by Medtronic, will be spending a total of over $6.7 billion, a boost of 8.4 percent.

Software companies are projected to increase R&D spending by 5.2% and to see sales increase over 3%. Of the major software companies, Microsoft leads with a budget of nearly $13 billion, an increase of 3.5%. Oracle will invest over $6.9 billion and SAP nearly $3.5 billion in 2018.

R&D budgets of semiconductor makers will grow to $49.4 billion, an increase of 6.2%. Intel will have the largest R&D budget, $14.1 billion, up over 5 percent. R&D budgets of the industries that are major suppliers to the infrastructure of the Internet cloud, such as Electronic Computers and Computer Communications Equipment, are also expected to increase R&D spending.

The automotive industry is increasing its total R&D spending to over $65 billion. The spending of major players varies from a 24% increase by Tesla to a 17.3% decrease by Volvo. However, the majority are increasing spending on R&D only slightly.

About the Study

R&D Ratios & Budgets, containing historical R&D spending for 2016, an estimate of R&D budgets for 2017, and a forecast of 2018 R&D spending for over 3,600 firms, is used for budget planning, monitoring competition, identifying joint venture partners, and spotting acquisition candidates.

The study reports R&D-to-gross profits ratios, R&D-to-sales ratios plus R&D and sales growth rates. In addition, for each company and industry, the study contains a low and high range for each ratio over the last six years to indicate stability of R&D spending. Over 260 industry summaries are provided.

The 2017 edition of the report in either print or PDF format is $395 and the report along with Excel datafiles is $495. Contact Schonfeld & Associates, Inc., 1931 Lynn Circle, Libertyville, Illinois 60048. Call for more information: 800-205-0030 or visit the company's web site at http://www.saiBooks.com under Area of Expertise: Research & Development Spending.