Siemens 2009 Annual Report Download - page 140

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 Reports Supervisory Board /
Managing Board  Corporate Governance  Management’s discussion and analysis  Consolidated Financial Statements
44 Business and operating environment 63 Fiscal 2009 – Financial summary 66 Results of operations 84 Financial position
networked to facilitate efficient collaboration between its vari-
ous sites around the world and with the rest of the Company.
Its principal research operations are in the U.S., the U.K., Ger-
many, Austria, the Slovak Republic, Russia, India, China and
Singapore.
Within our Sectors the R&D efforts are focused on the next
generation of products and solutions and preparing for suc-
cessful market launches. CT’s researchers and developers, in
contrast, look further ahead and focus on identifying the fun-
damental technologies that will be required for the next-suc-
ceeding generation. The strong links they maintain with global
research establishments and their close working relationships
with those parts of the company most familiar with products
and customers help to ensure that important technical and
social trends are recognized, analyzed at an early stage and
created. CT is committed to the principles of open innovation
and accordingly makes sure the Company continually receives
a flow of information with long-term value from the science
and engineering disciplines.
CT covers a wide range of global technology fields including
materials, microsystems, production methods, software, engi-
neering, power, sensors, automation, medical informatics and
imaging, information and communication, raw material ex-
traction and processing, and off-grid energy. Our so-called
SMART products (meaning Simple, Maintenance-friendly, Af-
fordable, Reliable and Timely to market) incorporate new tech-
nologies in a form that enables them to compete effectively in
price-sensitive markets, such as in rural regions and areas with
poorly developed infrastructure. These inexpensive products
are tailored to the specific requirements of their target markets
and are particularly reliable and easy to use and maintain. CT
and the Sectors have SMART solutions under development in
fields including healthcare and decentralized power genera-
tion, and a number are already successfully in place.
Solutions capable of strengthening and advancing our envi-
ronmental portfolio are a strong point of Siemens’ R&D initia-
tives. Key objectives in this context include increasing effi-
ciency in power generation, be it renewable or conventional;
low-loss power transmission; the development of smart power
grids; and the efficient use of energy in transport, industrial
The Industry Sector invested €1.8 billion with an R&D intensity
of 5.2%, the Energy Sector invested €0.8 billion with an R&D
intensity of €3.0% and the Healthcare Sector invested €1.1 bil-
lion with an R&D intensity of 9.1%. Our corporate R&D organi-
zation, Corporate Technology (CT), and Siemens IT Solutions
and Services also invested in R&D activities.
Siemens also benefited from public funding for R&D project
work in fiscal 2009. As in the prior year, Siemens participated
in more than 1,000 cooperation projects in 2009, both domes-
tically and internationally. This includes direct cooperation
with universities, research institutes and other industrial com-
panies as well as participation in joint programs backed by
public support such as from the European Union or the Ger-
man Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
We employ 12,700 employees engaged in R&D in Germany, and
19,100 employees engaged in R&D in about 30 other countries
including the U.S., China, India, Austria, Slovakia, the U.K.,
Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and Croatia.
Siemens’ patent portfolio consists of more than 56,000 patents
worldwide, an increase from 55,000 patents a year earlier. Ac-
cording to statistics for patent applications in calendar 2008,
Siemens ranked second in Germany, second in Europe and
twelfth in the U.S. For calendar 2007, Siemens was second in
Germany, third in Europe and eleventh in the U.S.
The following R&D priorities were set in fiscal 2009: (1) safe-
guarding the Company ’s long-term prospects, (2) increasing
the Company ’s competitive edge in technology and (3) opti-
mizing the allocation of R&D resources.
CT works closely with the R&D teams in the Sectors and Divi-
sions. CT, which has more than 5,000 employees, is tightly
R&D indicators
FY 2009 FY 2008 FY 2007
Employees
31,800 32,200 30,900
Inventions
7,700 8,200 7,900
Patent applications
4,200 5,000 4,900
1 Average number of employees in fiscal year.
2 Prior-year information not adjusted for businesses disposed of.
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