14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is reportedly the least interested in lobbying, an analysis by Business Insider’s SAI reveals. Listed among top tech companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, and AT&T - the last one spending close to $15 million per year on keeping tight relationships with key figures -, Apple shells out a meager $1.5 million seeking to influence officials on particular issues.
The report in question begins by outlining that Google’s move to throw the extra dollar for lobbying is justified, “with the FTC breathing down its neck.” According to the paper’s analysis, “Google has stepped up its lobbying spend in the last year, shelling out $4.03 million in 2009. That's up 44% from the year prior.” Still, the figure remains relatively small, the analysis continues to reveal, despite the company’s growth. By comparison, Microsoft spent $6.7 million in 2009, while Comcast forked $12.6, the report says. According to the chart available above for a larger view (click to enlarge), AT&T spent exactly $14.7 million on lobbying.
“We decided to take a look at lobbying from tech companies after we ran a chart looking at ad spending for tech companies,” the paper notes, adding in Brackets that, “For what it's worth, Google's lobbying is half what it spends on advertising.” Business Insider reveals that it gathered its data from the Senate Office of Public Affairs database. Lobbying spend as a percent of revenue is also graphed. Apple’s is in the 0.000% - 0.005% range. By comparison, Yahoo is at 0.030%, while Microsoft spends around 12% of its revenue, according to Business Insider's Chart of the Day.
Finally, the paper weighs in on Apple, relating that, in a somewhat interesting manner, the Cupertino, California-based company spends the least on lobbying as a percent of revenue. Then, the report’s authors seem to suggest it’s actually not so surprising that the Mac maker invests little on this front, saying, “Guess that's the advantage of not dominating any market, other than mp3 players.” Surely, there are more reasons behind Apple’s “cheapness” here, one of them being the fact that it can do a lot of things on its own, and the system seems to have worked quite well so far.