Even prior to that interview in The Wall
Street Journal, he had spoken of innovation being "deeply embedded"
at a firm that had "no issue" with the generation of new ideas.
Apple's
hotly anticipated iWatch will reportedly come in multiple screen sizes with
varying designs.
Let's face it: innovation - or at least,
the image as a pioneer - is really the big thing that Apple is desperate to
keep hold of, and which remains the principal focus of rival envy. Why else,
after all, would Samsung be "hiring like crazy", according to a
Business Insider report, in a quest to come up with new ideas for its own
"next big thing"?
The R&D Moves Of Rivals
With the South Korean company fearing that
it could end up joining the likes of HTC, LG and Xiaomi as just another
low-margin smartphone vendor, it has already invested significantly into the
creation of its own Tizen mobile platform and the use of Android overlays -
like Magazine UX. The latter marked unsuccessful Samsung attempts to lessen
perceptions that its phones are mere vehicles for Google's ubiquitous mobile
OS.
The senior vice president of Samsung's
Memory System Application Lab, Bob Brennan, is reportedly making the hires in
readiness for the opening of the company's Silicon Valley research and
development center, telling Business Insider that his unit was recruiting
"top PhDs and top talent in the industry as fast as I possibly can."
The
audio jack and speaker are on the side of the iWatch and we've also got 3
buttons on board of the smartwatch.
The Bay Area R&D center will be a
staggering 1.1 million square feet facility, its construction swallowing up
some $300 million of Samsung's cash. In an indication of just how difficult it
can be for any company to buy its way to a new image, no other firm on the
planet spent as much on R&D last year as the South Korean manufacturer, and
yet, it does not yet have any game-changing innovations to give it any real
parity with Apple or Google in this regard.
Speaking of Google, the search giant hasn't
been shy on the investment front itself, with its own second quarter seeing the
expenditure of $2.65 billion on capital costs, the construction of data
centers, the purchase of real estate and the addition of new production
equipment. It's also been blowing some cash on new personnel, with its
employment roll expanding by 4.5 per cent - to 52,069 - during the period. Even
with that spending, Google still has healthy cash, equivalents and marketable
securities of $61.20 billion, compared to the $58.72 billion it recorded at the
end of last year.
Good news for Apple shareholders, too
The iWatch - or whatever it ends up being
called - seems perfectly timed to firm up what is already an increasingly
buoyant mood among those aforementioned investors. Last week, a 3.3 per cent
rise in Apple shares brought them to $97.88 on the NASDAQ, a 22-month high.
Apple stock is once again looking like a fine investment, with at least six
brokerages last week increasing their price targets on the stock by up to $12,
reaching a $123 high.
Globally
recognized fitness expert and instrumental consult, Jay Blehnik, has been
involved in the development of several Nike products, including the Nike
fuelband. And now, Blehnik has confirmed his latest role at Apple, which we
speculate will be for the iWatch.
It caps yet another great year for the
Cupertino firm's shareholders, a 21.3 per cent stock price rise in the year to
date comparing to a NASDAQ that's only slightly higher. Business results have
been better than anticipated, plans to return capital to shareholders have been
warmly welcomed and it's not as if they only have the iWatch to look forward
to, given the widespread talk of not just one, but two new iPhones - a 4.7-inch
and 5.5-inch model.
Such a favourable combination of
circumstances would only seem to point to one thing - yet more soaring stock
figures for investors to revel in next year. It would appear that Apple's
recent marked R&D investment will be more than rewarded for some time to
come.
