Apple, Google – Please Spend on R&D Not IP

Abstract:     
When the patent trial of the century concluded Tuesday, the last thing the jury heard from Apple was a plea for an unprecedented $2.7 billion in damages from competing smartphone maker Samsung.

As colossal as that amount may sound, it is just a tiny fraction of the $100 billion presently sitting idle in Apple's bank account. Throw in the $40 billion plus that Google has socked away, and the technology giants of our time are sitting atop a mountain of cash that would make even a Saudi prince blush.

The problem is that neither company seems to have any idea what to do with its riches.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 1

Keywords: smartphone wars, research and development, R&D, patent acquisition, Apple v. Samsung, Apple, Google, Samsung, Bell Labs, Xerox PARC, IBM Research

JEL Classification: O32, O34, K00

Accepted Paper Series