You are comparing across industries. Apple is a mix of software and manufacturing. As is Samsung. VW is a car company. Further, a better metric is to look at % of revenue spent on R&D.
That's the whole point. The argument is that Apple is pivoting into a different industry.
% of revenue spent on R&D would not tell you much here. If a company with $10m revenue spends the same % revenue on R&D as VW, does that mean it's possible for it to bringing out a new line of cars? Setting up to manufacture a car costs a large amount of absolute $, so comparing absolute spend makes sense here.
That's the whole point. The argument is that Apple is pivoting into a different industry.
% of revenue spent on R&D would not tell you much here. If a company with $10m revenue spends the same % revenue on R&D as VW, does that mean it's possible for it to bringing out a new line of cars? Setting up to manufacture a car costs a large amount of absolute $, so comparing absolute spend makes sense here.