Apple’s Cash Could Be Better Spent on Research

Many investors are surely applauding Apple CEO Tim Cook’s decision to both institute and then aggressively expand big stock buyback and dividend programs to return cash to shareholders.

But what is more creditable is Mr. Cook’s more generous approach to research and development.

In the past two years, Apple has sharply boosted its spending on R&D, outstripping growth in revenue. It’s a reverse of a nearly 20-year old policy at Apple, which slashed R&D in the mid-1990s as it was struggling to survive and maintained a frugal approach to research expenditures while Steve Jobs ran the company.