Apple's quarterly R&D budget is averaging $1.6 Billion. Yearly that would something over $6.4 billion.
CUPERTINO, California—October 20, 2014—Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter ended September 27, 2014. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $42.1 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.5 billion, or $1.42 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $37.5 billion and net profit of $7.5 billion, or $1.18 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter. Gross margin was 38 percent compared to 37 percent in the year-ago quarter. International sales accounted for 60 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
So a quarterly R&D Budget of $1.6 Billion against net profits of $8.5 Billion comes up to about 18% spend is R&D. For a company that needs to continue to innovate, that sounds about right.
ROI's sitting right about 11.8% (call it 12%) if I've done the math right.
I don't see how those numbers justify their sky-high stock price. That as a consumer of Apple's products, not an investor.