Tim Cook says R&D spending is "accelerating much higher than the company" overall performance

During earlier earnings discussions, former Apple CEO Tim Cook compared the growth rate of the company’s research and development outlays with Apple’s broader performance, according to a report on fiscal 2026 results. Apple’s R&D spending reached an all-time high of $45.77 billion for the year ended Sept. 26, 2026, up 32% from $34.55 billion a year earlier, while net sales rose about 15% to $478.8 billion. Quarterly R&D was $11.73 billion, up 32% year over year and essentially flat from the prior quarter. The company has linked the higher investment to artificial intelligence, with CFO Kevan Parekh citing expansion in chips, products, AI and related infrastructure. R&D equaled roughly 9.6% of fiscal 2026 sales. The total continues a multiyear rise as Apple directs resources toward new products and technologies amid intensifying competition in AI and hardware.