The spending on pure research is trivial compared with IBM&#x27;s profits. In its last financial year: &quot;Total capital return to shareholders of $9.5 billion; dividends of $4.9 billion and gross share repurchases of $4.6 billion&quot; 
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www-03.ibm.com&#x2F;press&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;pressrelease&#x2F;48846.wss" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www-03.ibm.com&#x2F;press&#x2F;us&#x2F;en&#x2F;pressrelease&#x2F;48846.wss</a><p>IBM also spends a lot of money buying dozens of companies to bolster its results. These include These include Cognos ($5bn), Softlayer ($2bn), Netezza ($1.7bn), Kenexa ($1.4bn) and Trusteer ($1bn). 
<a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zdnet.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;ibm-vs-microsoft-and-the-battle-for-the-corporate-cloud-business&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.zdnet.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;ibm-vs-microsoft-and-the-battle...</a>