I think that research is always very useful and important, and I mean research in all directions.
However at the same time I really support companies like BYD which (apart from actually investing a lot into research) also throw real and reliable products on the market, because I think there is a reason that we say "learning by doing" and not "learning by theory (only)". Yes, I think we have to research, but we also have to act and test things in practice. :)