Xerox invented the personal computer and earned almost nothing from it. Filings from eight companies show why: value goes to whoever owns what the invention needs, not who spends most on R&D.
Most companies that say they need more innovation do not lack ideas. Their system is stuck at one stage: finding the right problems, converting ideas into funded offers, or scaling what works. Seven cases, from Corning to Xerox, show why R&D spending will not tell you which.
Europe is bracing for a China shock the data says is landing elsewhere. EU imports from China are up 42% since 2019, yet total EU imports rose just 4%. The real damage is in South-east Asia, China's own factories and input dependency, and the surplus may already have peaked.