Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Its best-known hardware products are the Mac line of computers, the iPod media player, the iPhone smartphone, and the iPad tablet computer. Its consumer software includes the OS X and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media browser, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007 to reflect its shifted focus towards consumer electronics.
Apple is the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics, and the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung and Nokia.[4] Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012.[5][6][7][8][9] On September 30, 2013, Apple surpassed Coca-Cola to become the world's most valuable brand in the Omnicom Group's "Best Global Brands" report.[10] However, the company has received criticism for its contractors' labor practices, and for Apple's own environmental and business practices.
As of May 2013, Apple maintains 408 retail stores in fourteen countries[11][12] as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store,[13] the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer.[14] Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$415 billion as of March 2013. As of September 29, 2012, the company had 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual revenue in 2012 totalled $156 billion.[15] In May 2013, Apple entered the top ten of the Fortune 500 list of companies for the first time, rising 11 places above its 2012 ranking to take the sixth position.
Apple was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne[17][18] to sell the Apple I personal computer kit, a computer single handedly designed by Wozniak. The kits were hand-built by Wozniak[19][20] and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club.[21] The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips), which is less than what is today considered a complete personal computer.[22] The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,735 in 2014 dollars, adjusted for inflation).
Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977,[29] without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for US$800.[18] Multi-millionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.
During the first five years of operations, revenues doubled every four months, an average growth rate of 700%.
The Apple II, also invented by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16, 1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, due to its character cell-based color graphics and an open architecture. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface, the Disk II.[32]
The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world, VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program.[33] VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II and gave home users compatibility with the office, an additional reason to buy an Apple II.[33] Apple was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.[34][35]
By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the Apple III in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market.[36]
Jobs and several Apple employees, including Jef Raskin, visited Xerox PARC in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share.[37] Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI), and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa.[38]
On December 12, 1980, Apple went public at $22 per share,[39] generating more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly creating more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.
Apple began working on the Apple Lisa in 1978. In 1982, Jobs was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting. Jobs took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh. A race broke out between the Lisa team and the Macintosh team over which product would ship first. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.
Mac OS X, based on NeXT's OPENSTEP and BSD Unix was released on March 24, 2001, after several years of development. Aimed at consumers and professionals alike, Mac OS X aimed to combine the stability, reliability and security of Unix with the ease of use afforded by an overhauled user interface. To aid users in migrating from Mac OS 9, the new operating system allowed the use of OS 9 applications through Mac OS X's Classic environment.[72]
On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California.[73] On July 9, they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years.[74][75] In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.
Apple achieved widespread success with its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad products, which introduced innovations in mobile phones, portable music players and personal computers respectively. In addition, the implementation of a store for the purchase of software applications represented a new business model. Touch screens had been invented and seen in mobile devices before, but Apple was the first to achieve mass market adoption of such a user interface that included particular pre-programmed touch gestures.
Delivering his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc., because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had shifted its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV.
On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook assumed Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company."[108] Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world.[109] In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud, an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing.
On January 27, 2010, Apple introduced their much-anticipated media tablet, the iPad, running a modified version of iOS. It offers multi-touch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, videos of TV shows, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, videogames, and most existing iPhone apps.[160] It also includes a mobile version of Safari for web browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBookstore, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via Wi-Fi and optional 3G service or synced through the user's computer.[161] AT&T was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad
On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player. Several updated models have since been introduced, and the iPod brand is now the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 350 million units shipped as of September 2012.[171] Apple has partnered with Nike to offer the Nike+iPod Sports Kit, enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website.
At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the long-anticipated[174] iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod.[175] The first-generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T contract.[176] On February 5, 2008, it was updated to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models.[177] It combined a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in handheld devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iPhone OS, later renamed iOS), with various Mac OS X applications such as Safari and Mail. It also includes web-based and Dashboard apps such as Google Maps and Weather. The iPhone features a 3.5-inch (89 mm) touchscreen display, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi
At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV),[197] a set-top video device intended to bridge the sale of content from iTunes with high-definition televisions. The device links up to a user's TV and syncs, either via Wi-Fi or a wired network, with one computer's iTunes library and streams from an additional four. The Apple TV originally incorporated a 40 GB hard drive for storage, includes outputs for HDMI and component video, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p.[198] On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model[199] and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV
Apple develops its own operating system to run on Macs, OS X, the latest version being OS X Mavericks (version 10.9). Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package that bundles iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork is available, which includes Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. iTunes, QuickTime media player, and Software Update are available as free downloads for both OS X and Windows.
Source: Wikipedia
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007 to reflect its shifted focus towards consumer electronics.
As of May 2013, Apple maintains 408 retail stores in fourteen countries[11][12] as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store,[13] the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer.[14] Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated value of US$415 billion as of March 2013. As of September 29, 2012, the company had 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual revenue in 2012 totalled $156 billion.[15] In May 2013, Apple entered the top ten of the Fortune 500 list of companies for the first time, rising 11 places above its 2012 ranking to take the sixth position.
Apple was established on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne[17][18] to sell the Apple I personal computer kit, a computer single handedly designed by Wozniak. The kits were hand-built by Wozniak[19][20] and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club.[21] The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips), which is less than what is today considered a complete personal computer.[22] The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($2,735 in 2014 dollars, adjusted for inflation).
During the first five years of operations, revenues doubled every four months, an average growth rate of 700%.
The Apple II, also invented by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16, 1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its major rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, due to its character cell-based color graphics and an open architecture. While early models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface, the Disk II.[32]
The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world, VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program.[33] VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II and gave home users compatibility with the office, an additional reason to buy an Apple II.[33] Apple was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.[34][35]
By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the Apple III in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market.[36]
Jobs and several Apple employees, including Jef Raskin, visited Xerox PARC in December 1979 to see the Xerox Alto. Xerox granted Apple engineers three days of access to the PARC facilities in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares (800,000 split-adjusted shares) of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share.[37] Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a graphical user interface (GUI), and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa.[38]
On December 12, 1980, Apple went public at $22 per share,[39] generating more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly creating more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.
Apple began working on the Apple Lisa in 1978. In 1982, Jobs was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting. Jobs took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh. A race broke out between the Lisa team and the Macintosh team over which product would ship first. Lisa won the race in 1983 and became the first personal computer sold to the public with a GUI, but was a commercial failure due to its high price tag and limited software titles.
Mac OS X, based on NeXT's OPENSTEP and BSD Unix was released on March 24, 2001, after several years of development. Aimed at consumers and professionals alike, Mac OS X aimed to combine the stability, reliability and security of Unix with the ease of use afforded by an overhauled user interface. To aid users in migrating from Mac OS 9, the new operating system allowed the use of OS 9 applications through Mac OS X's Classic environment.[72]
On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California.[73] On July 9, they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring company. On October 23 of the same year, Apple announced the iPod portable digital audio player, and started selling it on November 10. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years.[74][75] In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads for $0.99 a song and integration with the iPod. The service quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.
Apple achieved widespread success with its iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad products, which introduced innovations in mobile phones, portable music players and personal computers respectively. In addition, the implementation of a store for the purchase of software applications represented a new business model. Touch screens had been invented and seen in mobile devices before, but Apple was the first to achieve mass market adoption of such a user interface that included particular pre-programmed touch gestures.
Delivering his keynote speech at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc., because computers were no longer the main focus of the company, which had shifted its emphasis to mobile electronic devices. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV.
On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another medical leave of absence, for an indefinite period, to allow him to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook assumed Jobs' day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company."[108] Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world.[109] In June 2011, Steve Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveiled iCloud, an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files and software which replaced MobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing.
Products
- MacBook Air: Consumer ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook, introduced in 2008.
- MacBook Pro: Professional notebook, introduced in 2006.
- Mac Mini: Consumer sub-desktop computer and server, introduced in 2005.
- iMac: Consumer all-in one desktop computer, introduced in 1998.
- Mac Pro: Workstation desktop computer, introduced in 2006.
On January 27, 2010, Apple introduced their much-anticipated media tablet, the iPad, running a modified version of iOS. It offers multi-touch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, videos of TV shows, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, videogames, and most existing iPhone apps.[160] It also includes a mobile version of Safari for web browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBookstore, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via Wi-Fi and optional 3G service or synced through the user's computer.[161] AT&T was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad
On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player. Several updated models have since been introduced, and the iPod brand is now the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 350 million units shipped as of September 2012.[171] Apple has partnered with Nike to offer the Nike+iPod Sports Kit, enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website.
At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the long-anticipated[174] iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod.[175] The first-generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T contract.[176] On February 5, 2008, it was updated to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models.[177] It combined a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in handheld devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iPhone OS, later renamed iOS), with various Mac OS X applications such as Safari and Mail. It also includes web-based and Dashboard apps such as Google Maps and Weather. The iPhone features a 3.5-inch (89 mm) touchscreen display, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi
At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV),[197] a set-top video device intended to bridge the sale of content from iTunes with high-definition televisions. The device links up to a user's TV and syncs, either via Wi-Fi or a wired network, with one computer's iTunes library and streams from an additional four. The Apple TV originally incorporated a 40 GB hard drive for storage, includes outputs for HDMI and component video, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p.[198] On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model[199] and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV
Apple develops its own operating system to run on Macs, OS X, the latest version being OS X Mavericks (version 10.9). Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package that bundles iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork is available, which includes Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. iTunes, QuickTime media player, and Software Update are available as free downloads for both OS X and Windows.
Source: Wikipedia
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