R&D Spending Drops at Major Firms
研发经费普降
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.
管理咨询公司Booz & Co.的一项调查结果显示，去年大公司在研发方面的投入出现了10 多年以来的首次下降。
The cuts last year were concentrated in auto, computing, electronics and industrial companies, some of the biggest spenders.
对研发支出作出削减的行业主要包括汽车、计算机、电子和工业企业，其中有几家公司是世界上最舍得在研发上花钱的公司。
‘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.’
“2009 年，全球范围的衰退终于对世界上在创新方面支出最多的公司产生了影响。” Booz 的调查报告说，“最有远见的公司可能很快就会恢复2009年削减的研发费用。”
Total 2009 R&D spending by the companies surveyed declined 3.5% from a year earlier to $503 billion.
接受调查的公司2009 年研发支出总额为5,030 亿美元，较一年前下降3.5%。
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.
去年研发支出最多的是罗氏公司，研发费用91.2 亿美元，其次是微软，研发费用90.1 亿美元，诺基亚，研发费用82.4 亿美元。
Toyota Motor Corp. 's R&D spending totaled $7.82 billion, and Pfizer Inc. had $7.74 billion.
丰田汽车公司研发支出总额为78.2 亿美元，辉瑞制药有限公司支出为77.4 亿美元。
Booz also found that heavy spending on R&D doesn't necessarily lead to recognition as a technology leader.
Booz 的调查还发现，在研发方面投入越多的公司并不一定被看做科技领头羊。
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.’
Booz 对来自400 家公司的450 多名研发管理者进行了调查，这些公司的年度研发支出总计1,500 亿美元。Booz 让他们列出他们认为“最有创新精神”的公司。
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.
结果他们选出的公司是苹果、谷歌和3M Co。而这三家公司2009 年的研发支出都没有进入前十。
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.
Booz 公司合伙人雅鲁泽尔斯基说，苹果去年的研发支出仅占销售额的3.1%左右，大约是电脑和电子产品公司平均水平的一半。但苹果公司用小钱办大事，他们研发工作的有效性超过了很多竞争对手。
‘It's much more about how you do it than how much you spend,’Mr. Jaruzelski said.
雅鲁泽尔斯基说，做事的方式比花多少钱更重要。
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.
苹果成功的原因在于，它并不专注于一味扩大规模，而是更关注消费者的需求，并且吸引一流的人才。
