【英语国际】全球大公司去年研发支出多年来首降

Research and development spending at major companies declined last year for the first time in more than a decade, according to a survey by management consulting firm Booz & Co.

But R&D as a percentage of revenues was up slightly from a year earlier because revenues dropped at a faster rate than R&D spending.

Booz makes an annual study of the 1,000 publicly traded companies globally that spend the most on R&D, based on their public disclosures.

The consulting firm, which has studied data going back to 1997, said 2009 was the first year to show a decline in total R&D spending among these companies.

The cuts last year were concentrated in auto, computing, electronics and industrial companies, some of the biggest spenders.

'The world-wide recession finally caught up with the world's top innovation spenders in 2009,' the Booz report says, adding that 'the most forward-looking companies will likely move quickly to restore the R&D cuts they made in 2009.'

Total 2009 R&D spending by the companies surveyed declined 3.5% from a year earlier to $503 billion. But that worked out to 3.8% of 2009 sales, up from 3.5% in 2008.

Roche Holding AG had the biggest spending total last year, at $9.12 billion. It was followed by Microsoft Corp. with $9.01 billion and Nokia Corp. at $8.24 billion.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s R&D spending totaled $7.82 billion, and Pfizer Inc. had $7.74 billion. Toyota topped the list in 2008.

Booz also found that heavy spending on R&D doesn't necessarily lead to recognition as a technology leader.

In a survey of more than 450 'innovation executives' from 400 companies representing $150 billion in annual R&D spending, Booz asked them to name the companies they considered 'most innovative.'

The three most frequently chosen by respondents were Apple Inc., Google Inc. and 3M Co., none of which was among the 10 biggest spenders on R&D in 2009.

Apple last year spent about 3.1% of its sales on R&D, or about half the typical level for computer and electronic companies, said Barry Jaruzelski, a partner at Booz, and yet Apple's R&D appears to be far more effective than that of many rivals.

'It's much more about how you do it than how much you spend,' Mr. Jaruzelski said.

Apple succeeds because it has a deep understanding of consumers, is focused in its projects 'as opposed to trying to spread their bets,' and attracts superior talent, he said.

管理咨询公司Booz & Co.的一项调查结果显示，去年大公司研究与开发费用出现了10多年以来的首次下降。

但研发费用在收入中的比重较头一年略有上升，原因是收入的下降比研发费用的下降更快。

Booz根据公开披露资料，每年对全球1,000家上市公司进行一次调查。这些公司在所有公司的研发支出中占了大头。

Booz公司对上溯自1997年的数据进行过研究，它说，2009年是这1,000家公司研发总支出显示下降的第一年。

去年研发支出的削减集中在汽车、计算机、电子和工业企业，其中有几家是研发支出最多的公司。

Booz的调查报告说，2009年，全球范围的衰退终于影响到了世界创新支出最多的公司；最有远见的公司可能会迅速恢复2009年削减的研发费用。

受调查公司2009年研发支出总额为5,030亿美元，较一年前下降3.5%。但这个数字相当于2009年销售收入的3.8%，高于2008年3.5%的比例。

去年研发支出最多的是罗氏公司(Roche Holding AG)的91.2亿美元，其次是微软(Microsoft Corp.)的90.1亿美元和诺基亚 (Nokia Corp.) 的82.4亿美元。

丰田汽车公司(Toyota Motor Corp.)研发支出总额为78.2亿美元，辉瑞制药有限公司(Pfizer Inc.)支出为77.4亿美元。丰田是2008年研发支出最多的公司。

Booz还发现，大手笔的研发支出不一定让人觉得企业就是科技领头羊。

Booz公司对400家公司的450多名“创新经理人”进行了调查，这些公司的年度研发支出总计1,500亿美元。Booz让他们指出自己认为“最创新”的公司的名字。

受调查者选得最多的是苹果(Apple Inc.)、谷歌(Google Inc.)和3M Co.，而这三家公司2009年的研发支出都没有进入前十。

Booz公司合伙人雅鲁泽尔斯基(Barry Jaruzelski)说，苹果去年研发支出占销售额的3.1%左右，大约相当于电脑和电子公司一般水平的一半，但苹果研发工作的有效性似乎远超很多竞争对手。

雅鲁泽尔斯基说，怎样做比花多少钱重要得多。

他说，苹果成功的原因在于，他对消费者有着深刻的理解，专注于各个项目而不是努力扩大赌注，并且吸引了一流的人才。