December 2004

Special Report: R&D '04

Continued from page 6

By Technology Review

The Business of Innovation: When factors like R&D growth are taken into account, the biotech, pharmaceutical, and technology sectors rank highly. But when it comes to pure budget size, industrial conglomerates and transportation companies are tops.
Industry sector	Average rank by Innovation Index	Number of companies in the top 2003 R&D spenders	Average R&D 2003 ($Mil)	Average R&D percent change	Average absolute change in R&D spending ($Mil)	Average R&D as a percent of sales
Biotechnology	22	$3	$917	28%	$225	21%
Computer software	41	$7	$1,341	11%	$111	18%
Pharmaceuticals/ medical devices	48	$28	$2,045	9%	$176	14%
Semiconductors	50	$10	$1,318	1%	$41	22%
Transportation	72	$26	$2,273	5%	$72	5%
Computer hardware	81	$9	$2,251	0%	$4	7%
Heavy machinery	84	$5	$663	9%	$58	5%
Electronics/ electrical	90	$19	$1,616	0%	$11	6%
Aerospace and defense	93	$8	$1,369	1%	$29	6%
Telecom- munications	100	$13	$2,156	-10%	($269)	11%
Chemicals	104	$10	$1,083	-1%	($19)	6%
Consumer products	108	$5	$1,043	2%	$6	2%
Industrial conglomerates	109	$4	$2,490	-3%	($241)	4%
Energy	112	$3	$586	2%	$2	2%
Source: Standard & Poor's, Technology Review