Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology
company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs,
develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and
online services. The company's hardware products include the iPhone smartphone,
the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable
media player, the Apple Watch smartwatch, the Apple TV digital
media player, and the HomePod smart speaker. Apple's consumer
software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems,
the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and
the iLife and iWorkcreativity and productivity suites. Its
online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac
App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve
Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell personal
computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in
January 1977, and sales of its computers saw significant momentum and revenue
growth for the company. Within a few years, they had hired a staff of computer
designers and had a production line. Apple went public in 1980 to
instant financial success. Over the next few years, Apple shipped new computers
featuring innovative graphical user interfaces, and Apple's marketing commercials
for its products received widespread critical acclaim. However, the high price
tag of its products and limited software titles caused problems, as did power
struggles between executives at the company. Jobs resigned from Apple and
created his own company. As the market for personal computers increased,
Apple's computers saw diminishing sales due to lower-priced products from
competitors, in particular those offered with the Microsoft Windows operating
system. More executive job shuffles happened at Apple until then-CEO Gil
Amelio in 1997 decided to buy Jobs' company to bring him back. Jobs
regained position as CEO, and began a process to rebuild Apple's status, which
included opening Apple's own retail stores in 2001, making numerous
acquisitions of software companies to create a portfolio of software titles,
and changed some of the hardware technology used in its computers. It again saw
success and returned to profitability. In January 2007, Jobs announced that
Apple Computer, Inc. would be renamed Apple Inc. to reflect its shifted focus
toward consumer electronics and announced the iPhone, which saw critical
acclaim and significant financial success. In August 2011, Jobs resigned as CEO
due to health complications, and Tim Cook became the new CEO. Two
months later, Jobs died, marking the end of an era for the company.
Apple is the world's largest
information technology company by revenue and the world's
second-largest mobile phone manufacturer after Samsung. In February
2015, Apple became the first U.S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion. The company employs 116,000 full-time
employees as of October 2016 and maintains 498 retail stores in
22 countries as of July 2017. It operates the iTunes Store, which is the
world's largest music retailer. As of January 2016, more than one billion Apple
products are actively in use worldwide.
Apple's worldwide annual revenue totaled
$215 billion for the 2016 fiscal year. The
company enjoys a high level of brand loyalty and has been repeatedly
ranked as the world's most valuable brand. However, it receives
significant criticismregarding the labor practices of its contractors and its
environmental and business practices, including the origins of source
materials.
1976–84: Founding and incorporation
1984–91: Success with Macintosh
1991–97: Decline and restructuring
1997–2007: Return to profitability
2007–11: Success with mobile device
