Cell Phone Tycoon R&D center
The R&D center is the engine of your progress. Every new model sells for more than the last one, but it also costs more and takes longer to research. A good boss never lets the lab sit idle.
How it works
All models sit on a single ladder: iFruit and Anroid phones are mixed, from cheapest to most expensive. You can't skip ahead without researching the model before it.
Tap the R&D building in the city to start a research. The cost is paid up front and the timer runs on our servers, so research keeps going while the game is closed. When it finishes, the model can be produced in your factory.
Tap any model on the ladder to open its card: selling price, production cost and profit per unit, repair fee, research cost and time, and how many you have in stock.
Center level
The R&D center has 5 levels; each level unlocks 10 more models on the ladder. At level 1 you can research the first 10 models; to move on to the 11th you need level 2, and at level 5 all 43 models are open.
- Level 2: $50,000 (up to model 20)
- Level 3: $300,000 (up to model 30)
- Level 4: $2,000,000 (up to model 40)
- Level 5: $10,000,000 (all models)
Cost and duration
Cost grows with the model's price and its place on the ladder: the first models cost a few thousand dollars, the last ones millions. After the 24th model, cost also rises by an extra 25% per model.
Duration grows about 1.25x per model, and 1.8x after the 24th. The first models take seconds, the 20th about 9 minutes, the 28th 4 hours and the 30th 13 hours; from the 31st on, research hits the 30-hour cap.
What speeds research up
- VIP membership: shortens R&D and factory times; higher tiers help more.
- Company research: your company's "R&D Speed" research gives 1% per level, 5% in total (see Companies).
Durations are calculated on the server, so changing your device clock won't finish a research.
Tips
- Never leave the lab idle. Start the next research as soon as one finishes; with notifications on, the game tells you when it's done.
- Start long research before you leave. An 8-hour research started before bed finishes while you sleep.
- Don't park all your money. If saving for the next research will take ages, buy a line upgrade or a shop level first: your income grows and the R&D money comes faster.
- New model, new line. When a research finishes, switch at least one factory line to the new model; pricier phones take a bit longer to build but earn more per minute.
- Watch the trends. A trending older model can sometimes beat your newest one (see Factory lines).
- Upgrade the center on time. While researching the 10th, 20th, 30th and 40th model, save for the next center level too, so there's no wait when the research ends.
- Climbing the ladder helps with special orders. VIP clients ask for your latest models and up to 3 models ahead; an order with a locked model can't be accepted.