Amazon’s R&D budget is enormous – largest of all. The company spent $73.213 billion on research and development in 2022, compared to $56.05 billion in the prior year, Its R&D expenses grew more than 30% in 2022 compared to 2021. Amazon is the biggest R&D spender and its R&D spending is also growing the fastest. At the current rate, it might not take more than a few years before it reaches a hundred billion. Other tech giants have also increased their R&D investment but their R&D expenses are still very low compared to Amazon’s.
Research and Development Expenses of Amazon 2004-2022.
Amounts are in millions.
| Year | R&D expenses ($Millions) |
| 2022 | $73,213 |
| 2021 | $56,052 |
| 2020 | $42,720 |
| 2019 | $35,931 |
| 2018 | $ 28,837 |
| 2017 | $ 22,620 |
| 2016 | $ 16,085 |
| 2015 | $12,540 |
| 2014 | $9,275 |
| 2013 | $ 6,565 |
| 2012 | $4,564 |
| 2011 | $2,909 |
| 2010 | $1,734 |
| 2009 | $1,240 |
| 2008 | $1,033 |
| 2007 | $818 |
| 2006 | $662 |
| 2005 | $451 |
| 2004 | $283 |
2021: Amazon is the largest R&D spender in the entire industry. The ecommerce company spent $56,052 million on research and development in 2021 compared to $42,720 million in 2020.
In 2019, the research and development expenses of Amazon grew to $35.9 billion compared to $28.8 billion in 2018, yoy growth of around 25%.
Amazon presents its research and development expenses as technology and content expenses in its annual report. The R&D expenses of Amazon grew to 28.8 Bn Dollars in FY-2018 from 22.6 Bn dollars in FY-2017. Amazon’s investment in research and development is the highest in the entire technology industry. Compared to the previous year, R&D expenses of Amazon grew 12.4% in 2018.
About Amazon:
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is the largest ecommerce brand as well as one of the leading cloud services brand. The company which was founded in 1994 has seen enormous growth over the last five years and has greatly extended its range of cloud based services. Amazon has its headquarters in Seattle, Washington, United States. The CEO of Amazon is Jeff Bezos. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the cloud services platform of Amazon. Amazon is also the largest R&D spender in the entire industry. The company has divided its business into three main segments that include Amazon North America, Amazon International and AWS.Â
The research and development expenses of Amazon Inc are included as the technology and content expenses in its annual report. In 2017 these costs equalled 22.6 Billion dollars which is even higher than Google’s spending on R&D. The technology and content costs of Amazon mainly include the payroll costs of the employees of Amazon engaged in research and development of new and existing products and services as well as maintenance of its websites plus the infrastructure costs. Amazon continues to invest in numerous areas in technology and content so as to improve the consumer experience continuously. Amazon expects its R&D expenses to increase in the coming years as it will keep adding better technologies and products so as to enhance the customer experience further and increase the range of its products and technologies. Its Amazon Web Services costs are also classified as technology and content costs.
Abhijeet Pratap is a passionate blogger with seven years of experience in the field. Specializing in business management and digital marketing, he has developed a keen understanding of the intricacies of these domains. Through his insightful articles, Abhijeet shares his knowledge, helping readers navigate the complexities of modern business landscapes and digital strategies.