[rayiner]

AT&T (of which Bell Labs as a subsidiary) was a vertically-integrated nationwide monopoly that bankrolled its R&D using its massive consumer revenue. Most people would consider the current market structure, where service providers are separate from equipment manufacturers, to be an improvement.

[monocasa]

And yet, it was the fiscal year of 2017 that has had the historical highest profit margins, not their years of (highly regulated) national monopoly.

https://www.thestreet.com/story/14243906/1/how-at-amp-t-mana...

[rayiner]

You're still only pointing to two different basic models: companies that recover R&D expenses through vertical integration and direct-to-consumer sales (old AT&T, Apple, Google), and companies that recover R&D expenses in markets mediated by patent protection (Intel's wireless business, Qualcomm, Broadcom). Is your point that the former is preferable?

Also, you're comparing apples and oranges. AT&T today sells a different, much more valuable product than AT&T in 1970. Back then, a household might have one phone line and demand growth was basically nothing. Today, households have multiple cell lines, they're willing to pay much more for them, and demand keeps exploding. Likewise, Google is more profitable than AOL was at it's peak--it sells a different, much more valuable product.