Apple Inc.

Apple Inc.

Type	Public (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: 0HDZ, FWB: APC)
Founded	California, United States (April 1, 1976, as Apple Computer, Inc.)
Headquarters	1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California
Key people	Steve Jobs, CEO, Chairman & Co-founder Steve Wozniak, Co-founder Timothy D. Cook, COO Peter Oppenheimer, CFO Philip W. Schiller, SVP Marketing Jonathan Ive, SVP Industrial Design Mark Papermaster, SVP Devices Hardware Engineering Ron Johnson, SVP Retail Sina Tamaddon, SVP Applications Bertrand Serlet, SVP Software Engineering Scott Forstall, SVP iPhone software Bob Mansfield, SVP Mac Hardware
Industry	Computer hardware Computer software Consumer electronics
Products	Mac iPod iPhone Apple TV Mac OS X Mac OS X Server iLife iWork Cinema Display AirPort
Market cap	US$86.3 billion[1]
Revenue	US$32.48 billion ▲ (TTM FY 2008)[2]
Operating income	US$6.28 billion ▲ (TTM FY 2008) (19.32% operating margin)[2]
Net income	US$4.83 billion ▲ (TTM FY 2008) (14.88% profit margin)[2]
Employees	Approximately 32,000 (September 27, 2008)[3]
Website	Apple.com

Apple Inc., (NASDAQ: AAPL) formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is an American multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing consumer electronics and software products. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of personal computers, the iPod line of portable media players, and the iPhone. Apple's software products include the Mac OS X operating system, iTunes media browser, the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software, and Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio- and film-industry software products. The company operates more than 200 retail stores in eight countries^[4] and an online store where hardware and software products are sold.

Established in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976 and incorporated January 3, 1977,^[5] the company was called "Apple Computer, Inc." for its first 30 years, but dropped the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007 ^[6] to reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers. ^[7] Apple has about 28,000 employees worldwide^[8] and had worldwide annual sales of US$24 billion in its fiscal year ending September 29, 2007. ^[9] For reasons varying from its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its distinctive advertising campaigns, Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States.^[10] Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States.^[11]

History

Main article: History of Apple

See also: Notable litigation of Apple Inc.

1976–1980: The early years

The Apple I, Apple's first product. Sold as an assembled circuit board, it lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case. The owner of this unit added a keyboard and a wooden case.

Apple was established on April 1, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne,^[12] to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. They were hand-built by Wozniak ^{[13] [14]} and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. ^[15] The Apple I was sold as a motherboard (with CPU, RAM, and basic textual-video chips)—less than what is today considered a complete personal computer.^[16] The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at US$666.66. ^{[17] [18] [19] [20] [21]}

Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977 ^[5] without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of US$250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.^{[22] [23]}

The Apple II 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, because it came with 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. ^[24]

The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world—the VisiCalc spreadsheet program. ^[25] VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II, and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II—compatibility with the office.^[25] According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along. ^{[26] [27]}

By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The Apple II was succeeded by the Apple III in May 1980 as the company competed with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market. ^[28]

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 US$1 million in pre-IPO Apple stock. ^[29] Jobs was immediately convinced that all future computers would use a GUI, and development of a GUI began for the Apple Lisa. ^[30]

1981–1985: Lisa and Macintosh

Steve Jobs began working on the Apple Lisa in 1978 but in 1982 he was pushed from the Lisa team due to infighting, and took over Jef Raskin's low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh. A turf war broke out between Lisa's "corporate shirts" and Jobs' "pirates" over which product would ship first and save Apple. 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. ^[31]

The Macintosh 128K, the first Macintosh computer

In 1984, Apple next launched the Macintosh. Its debut was announced by the now famous US$1.5 million television commercial, "1984." It was directed by Ridley Scott, aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984, ^[32] and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success ^[33] and a masterpiece. ^{[34] [35]}

The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong.^[36] The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter, the first laser printer to be offered at a reasonable price point, and PageMaker, an early desktop publishing package. The Mac was particularly powerful in this market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which were already necessarily built-in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market. ^[37] As desktop publishing became widespread, Apple's sales reached new highs and the company had its initial public offering on September 7, 1984.

A power struggle developed between Jobs and new CEO John Sculley in 1985. ^[38] Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and Jobs was removed from his managerial duties.^[36] Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc. the same year. ^[39]

Apple's sustained growth during the early 1980s was partly due to its leadership in the education sector, attributed to their adaptation of the programming language LOGO, used in many schools with the Apple II. The drive into education was accentuated in California with the donation of one Apple II and one Apple LOGO software package to each public school in the state.

1986–1993: Rise and fall

See also: Timeline of Apple II Family and Timeline of Macintosh models

The Macintosh Portable was Apple's first "portable" Macintosh computer, released in 1989.

Having learned several painful lessons after introducing the bulky Macintosh Portable in 1989, Apple introduced the PowerBook in 1991, which established the modern form and ergonomic layout of the laptop computer. ^[40] The same year, Apple introduced System 7, a major upgrade to the operating system which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for Mac OS until 2001.

The success of the PowerBook and other products led to increasing revenue.^[38] For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine MacAddict named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.

Following the success of the LC, Apple introduced the Centris line, a low end Quadra offering, and the ill-fated Performa line which was sold in several confusing configurations and software bundles to avoid competing with the various consumer outlets such as Sears, Price Club and Wal-Mart, the primary dealers for these models. The end result was disastrous for Apple as consumers did not understand the difference between models.

During this time Apple experimented with a number of other failed consumer targeted products including digital cameras, portable CD audio players, speakers, video consoles and TV appliances. Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. Ultimately, all of this proved be too-little-too-late for Apple as their market share and stock prices continued to slide.

Apple saw the Apple II Family as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh. ^[41] In 1990 Apple released the Macintosh LC with a single expansion slot for the Apple IIe Card to migrate Apple II users to the Macintosh platform. ^[42] Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe in 1993.

Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows, focusing on delivering software with cheap commodity PCs while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience. ^[43] Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response. Instead they sued Microsoft for using a graphical user interface similar to the Apple Lisa in Apple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corporation. ^[44] The lawsuit dragged on for years before being thrown out of court. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines destroyed Apple's reputation and Sculley was replaced by Michael Spindler. ^[45]

1994–1997: Attempts at reinvention

The Apple Newton was Apple's first foray into the PDA markets, as well as one of the first in the industry. A financial flop, it helped pave the way for the Palm Pilot and Apple's own iPhone in the future.

By the early 1990s, Apple was developing alternative platforms to the Macintosh, such as the A/UX. The Macintosh platform was becoming outdated since it was not built for multitasking, and several important software routines were programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing competition from OS/2 and UNIX vendors like Sun Microsystems. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform, or reworked to run on more powerful hardware. ^[46]

In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola in the AIM alliance. The goal was to create a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform), which would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple's software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind, thus countering Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh, the first of many Apple computers to use IBM's PowerPC processor. ^[47]

In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including massive layoffs. ^[48] After multiple failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent project, then later with Copland and Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase NeXT and its NeXTSTEP operating system, bringing Steve Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. ^[49] On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs became the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line.

At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft made a US$150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock. ^[50]

On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Store, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy. ^{[51] [52]}

1998–2005: New beginnings

Company headquarters on Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California.

On August 15, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the Macintosh 128K: the iMac. The iMac design team was led by Jonathan Ive, who would later design the iPod and the iPhone. ^{[53] [54]} The iMac featured current technology and a groundbreaking design. It sold close to 800,000 units in its first five months and returned Apple to profitability for the first time since 1993. ^[55]

Through this period, Apple purchased several companies to create a portfolio of professional and consumer-oriented digital production software. In 1998, Apple announced the purchase of Macromedia's Final Cut software, signaling its expansion into the digital video editing market. ^[56] The following year, Apple released two video editing products: iMovie for consumers, and Final Cut Pro for professionals, the latter of which has gone on to be a significant video-editing program, with 800,000 registered users in early 2007. ^[57] In 2002 Apple purchased Nothing Real for their advanced digital compositing application Shake, ^[58] as well as Emagic for their music productivity application Logic, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand application. ^{[59] [60]} iPhoto's release the same year completed the iLife suite. ^[61]

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. ^[62]

The entrance of the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is a glass cube, housing a cylindrical elevator and a spiral staircase that leads into the subterranean store.

On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California. ^[63] The same year, Apple introduced the iPod portable digital audio player. The product was phenomenally successful — over 100 million units were sold within six years. ^{[64] [65]} In 2003, Apple's iTunes Store was introduced, offering online music downloads for US$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 19th 2008. ^[66]

Since 2001 Apple's design team has progressively abandoned the use of translucent colored plastics first used in the iMac G3. This began with the titanium PowerBook and was followed by the white polycarbonate iBook and the flat-panel iMac. ^{[67] [68]}

2005–present: The Intel partnership

Main article: Apple Intel transition

The MacBook Pro (15.4" widescreen) was Apple's first laptop with an Intel microprocessor. It was announced in January 2006 and is aimed at the professional market.

In the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006. ^[69] On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Apple computers to utilize Intel's Core Duo CPU. By August 7, 2006 Apple had transitioned the entire Mac product line to Intel chips, over 1 year sooner than announced. ^[69] The Power Mac, iBook and Powerbook brands were retired during the transition, the Mac Pro, Macbook and Macbook Pro becoming their respective successors.^[70][71]

Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X. ^[72]

Apple's success during this period was evident in its stock price. Between early 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around US$6 per share (split-adjusted) to over US$80. In January 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed that of Dell. ^[73] Nine years prior, Dell's CEO Michael Dell said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." ^[74]

Delivering his keynote at Macworld on January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would from that point on be known as Apple Inc. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV.^[75] The following day, Apple shares hit US$97.80, an all-time high. In May, Apple's share price passed the US$100 mark. ^[76]

On February 7, 2007, Apple indicated that it would sell music on the iTunes Store without DRM (which would allow tracks to be played on third-party players) if record labels would agree to drop the technology. ^[77] On April 2, 2007, Apple and EMI jointly announced the removal of DRM technology from EMI's catalog in the iTunes Store, effective in May. ^[78]

On July 11, 2008, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. ^[79] Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and brought in US$1 million daily on average, with Steve Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. ^[80]

Current products

See also: List of products discontinued by Apple Inc.

See also: Timeline of Apple products

Mac and accessories

The Mac mini, low-cost desktop computer.

See also: Timeline of Apple Macintosh models, List of Macintosh models grouped by CPU type, and List of Apple Macintosh models by case type

• Mac mini, consumer sub-desktop computer introduced in January 2005.
• iMac, consumer all-in-one desktop computer that was first introduced by Apple in 1998. Its popularity helped revive the company's fortunes. ^[55]
• Mac Pro, workstation-class desktop computer introduced in August 2006.
• MacBook, consumer notebook introduced in 2006, available in white and aluminum variants.
• MacBook Air, ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook, introduced in January 2008.
• MacBook Pro, professional portable computer alternative to the MacBook, introduced in January 2006.
• Xserve, rack mounted, dual core, dual processor 1U server.

Apple sells a variety of computer accessories for Mac computers including the AirPort wireless networking products, Time Capsule, Apple Cinema Display, Mighty Mouse, the Apple Wireless Keyboard computer keyboard, and the Apple USB Modem.

iPod

Main article: iPod

iPod Nano

On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player. It has evolved to include various models targeting the needs of different users. The iPod is the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 100 million units shipped as of April 9, 2007.^[81] Apple has partnered with Nike to introduce the Nike+iPod Sports Kit enabling runners to synchronize and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website. Apple currently sells four variants of the iPod.

• iPod classic, portable media player introduced in 2001, with 120GB capacity.
• iPod nano, portable media player introduced in 2005, available in 8 and 16 GB models.
• iPod shuffle, digital audio player introduced in 2005, available in 1 and 2 GB models.
• iPod touch, portable media player introduced in September 2007, available in 8, 16 and 32 GB models.

iPhone

Main article: iPhone

At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated^[82] iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod.^[83] The iPhone combines a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running a scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X, 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) touch screen display, 4 or 8 GB of memory, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi (both "b" and "g").^[83] The iPhone first became available on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB).^[84] On June 9, 2008, at WWDC 2008, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G would be available on July 11, 2008.^[85] This version added support for 3G networking and assisted-GPS navigation, among other things.^[86]

Apple TV

Main article: Apple TV

At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV^[87]), 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.^[88] On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model^[89] and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV. ^[90]

Software

See also: List of Macintosh software

Apple develops its own operating system to run on Macs, Mac OS X, the latest version being Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard. Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its Mac 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 which bundles iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iTunes, GarageBand, and iWeb. For presentation, page layout and word processing, iWork is available, which includes Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. iTunes, QuickTime media player, and Safari web browser are available as free downloads for both Mac OS X and Windows.

Apple also offers a range of professional software titles. Their range of server software includes the operating system Mac OS X Server; Apple Remote Desktop, a remote systems management application; WebObjects, Java Web application server; and Xsan, a Storage Area Network file system. For the professional creative market, there is Aperture for professional RAW-format photo processing; Final Cut Studio, a video production suite; Logic, a comprehensive music toolkit and Shake, an advanced effects composition program.

Apple also offers online services with MobileMe (formerly .Mac) which bundles personal web pages, email, Groups, iDisk, backup, iSync, and Learning Center online tutorials. MobileMe is a subscription-based internet suite that capitalizes on the ability to store personal data on an online server and thereby keep all web-connected devices in sync.^[91]

Timeline of Apple Products

See also: Timeline of Apple products, Timeline of Apple II Family, and Timeline of Apple Macintosh models

Products on this timeline indicate introduction dates only and not necessarily discontinued dates, as new products begin on a contiguous product line.

Culture

Business

Apple was one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions of what a corporate culture should look like in terms of organizational hierarchy (flat versus tall, casual versus formal attire, etc). Other highly successful firms with similar cultural aspects from the same time period include Southwest Airlines and Microsoft. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like IBM more or less by default, thanks to the influence of its founders; Steve Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple was a Fortune 500 company. By the time of the "1984" TV ad, this trait had become a key way the company attempts differentiated itself from its competitors.^[92]

As the company has grown and been led by a series of chief executives, each with his own idea of what Apple should be, some of its original character has arguably been lost, but Apple still has a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably draws talented people into its employ, especially after Jobs' return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program. Apple Fellows are those who have made extraordinary technical or leadership contributions to personal computing while at the company. The Apple Fellowship has so far been awarded to a few individuals including Bill Atkinson,^[93] Steve Capps,^[94] Rod Holt,^[93] Alan Kay,^[95][96] Guy Kawasaki,^[95][97] Al Alcorn,^[98] Don Norman,^[95] Rich Page,^[93] and Steve Wozniak.^[93]

User

According to surveys by J. D. Power, Apple has the highest brand and repurchase loyalty of any computer manufacturer. While this brand loyalty is considered unusual for any product, Apple appears not to have gone out of its way to create it. At one time, Apple evangelists were actively engaged by the company, but this was after the phenomenon was already firmly established. Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki has called the brand fanaticism "something that was stumbled upon".^[99] Apple has, however, supported the continuing existence of a network of Mac User Groups in most major and many minor centers of population where Mac computers are available.

Mac users meet at the European Apple Expo and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo trade shows where Apple introduces new products each year to the industry and public. Mac developers in turn gather at the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple Store openings can draw crowds of thousands, with some waiting in line as much as a day before the opening or flying in from other countries for the event.^[100] The New York City Fifth Avenue "Cube" store had a line as long as half a mile; a few Mac fans took the opportunity of the setting to propose marriage.^[101] The Ginza opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.^[102]

John Sculley told The Guardian newspaper in 1997: "People talk about technology, but Apple was a marketing company. It was the marketing company of the decade."^[103]

Market research indicates that Apple draws its customer base from an unusually artistic, creative, and well-educated population, which may explain the platform’s visibility within certain youthful, avant-garde subcultures.^[104]

Corporate affairs

Apple has a history of vertical integration in their products, manufacturing the hardware on which they pre-install their software.^{[105] [106]}

During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own. ^[107] This trend was largely reversed in the late 1990s beginning with Apple's adoption of the PCI bus in the 7500/8500/9500 Power Macs. Apple has since adopted USB, AGP, HyperTransport, Wi-Fi, and other industry standards in its computers and was in some cases a leader in the adoption of such standards such as USB.^[108] FireWire is an Apple-originated standard which has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as IEEE 1394.^[109]

Ever since the first Apple store opened, Apple has sold third party accessories.^[110] This allows, for instance, Nikon and Canon to sell their Mac-compatible digital cameras and camcorders inside the store. Adobe, one of Apples oldest software partners^[111], also sells its Mac-compatible software, as does Microsoft, who sells Microsoft Office for the Mac. Books from John Wiley & Sons, who publishes the For Dummies series of instructional books, are a notable exception however. The publisher's line of books were banned from Apple Stores in 2005 because Steve Jobs disagreed with their editorial policy.^[112]

Headquarters

Apple Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA.

Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon Valley, at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. This Apple campus has six buildings which total 850,000 sq ft (79,000 m²) and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos.^[113]

In 2006, Apple announced its intention to build a second campus on 50 acres assembled from various contiguous plots. The new campus, also in Cupertino, will be about one mile (1.6 km) east of the current campus.^[114]

CEOs

• 1977–1981: Michael "Scotty" Scott
• 1981–1983: A. C. "Mike" Markkula
• 1983–1993: John Sculley
• 1993–1996: Michael Spindler
• 1996–1997: Gil Amelio
• 1997–Present: Steve Jobs (Interim CEO 1997–2000)

Current Board of Directors

• Bill Campbell, Chairman of Intuit Inc.
• Millard Drexler, Chairman and CEO of J.Crew
• Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States
• Steve Jobs, CEO and Co-founder of Apple; also a director of The Walt Disney Company
• Andrea Jung, Chairman and CEO of Avon Products
• Arthur D. Levinson, Chairman and CEO of Genentech
• Eric E. Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google
• Jerry York, Chairman, President, and CEO of Harwinton Capital

Current executives

• Steve Jobs, Chief Executive Officer
• Timothy D. Cook, Chief Operating Officer
• Peter Oppenheimer, Chief Financial Officer
• Philip W. Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing
• Mark Papermaster, Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering
• Jonathan Ive, Senior Vice President of Industrial Design
• Bertrand Serlet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering
• Ron Johnson, Senior Vice President of Retail
• Sina Tamaddon, Senior Vice President of Applications
• Scott Forstall, Senior Vice President of iPhone Software
• Daniel Cooperman, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Advertising

Main article: Apple Inc. advertising

Since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 with the 1984 Super Bowl commercial to the more modern 'Get a Mac' adverts, Apple has been recognized in the past for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for its products, though it has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, particularly 2005 Power Mac ads.^{[115][116][117]}

Logos

See also: U+F8FF or , seen as the Apple logo in some fonts.

Apple’s first logo, designed by Jobs and Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. Almost immediately, though, this was replaced by Rob Janoff’s “rainbow Apple,” the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it, possibly as a tribute to Isaac Newton's discoveries of the gravity (the apple), and the separation of light by prisms (the colors). This was one of several designs Janoff presented to Jobs in 1976.^[118]

While it is generally accepted to have referred to Isaac Newton, another explanation exists that the bitten apple pays homage to the mathematician Alan Turing, who committed suicide by eating an apple he had laced with cyanide.^[119] Turing is regarded as one of the fathers of the computer. The rainbow colors of the logo are rumored to be a reference to the rainbow flag, as a homage to Turing's homosexuality.^[120]

In 1998, with the roll out of the new iMac, Apple began to use a monochromatic logo—supposedly at the insistence of recently returned Jobs—nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation. However, no specific color is prescribed throughout Apple's software and hardware line. The logo's shape is one of the most recognized brand symbols in the world, identifies all Apple products and retail stores (the name "Apple" is not even present) and has been included as stickers in nearly all Macintosh and iPod packages through the years.

Slogans

Main article: List of Apple Inc. slogans

Apple's first slogan, "Byte into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s. ^[121] From 1997–2002, Apple used the slogan Think Different in advertising campaigns. The slogan had a lasting impact on their image and revived their popularity with the media and customers. Although the slogan has been retired, it is still closely associated with Apple. ^[122] Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac", was used in 1998 to promote the iMac, ^[123] and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements. ^[124]

Environmental record

Greenpeace, an environmentalist organization, has controversially confronted Apple on various environmental issues, including promoting a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components, and toxins within the iPhone hardware. ^{[125] [126]} Since 2003 they have campaigned against Apple regarding their chemical policies, in particular the inclusion of PVC and BFRs in their products. ^[127] On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs released a report announcing plans to completely eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008. ^{[128] [129]}

Greenpeace runs a "Guide to Greener Electronics", which rates companies on chemical-disposal waste-reduction practices. In the first edition, released in August 2006, Apple scored 2.7/10.^[130] In subsequent editions Apple's score has improved steadily. ^{[131] [132] [133] [134]} Apple has soon improved its score to a 4.1/10, placing it in the 45 percentile among 17 other electronic companies and 10th in the rankings. ^[135]

At the 2007 Macworld Expo, Greenpeace presented a critique of Apple. Rick Hind, the legislative director of Greenpeace's toxics campaign, said, "(The company) is getting greener, but not green enough." Hind commented further, "The Macbook Air has less toxic PVC plastic and less toxic BFRs, but it could have zero and that would make Apple an eco-leader."" ^[136]

Climate Counts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward the greenest companies, gave Apple 11 points out of a possible 100 which placed the company last among electronics companies. Climate Counts also labeled Apple with a "stuck icon," and the environmental group added that Apple was "a choice to avoid for the climate conscious consumer." ^[137] Steve Jobs responded "get out of the computer business (and) go save some whales." ^[136]

The Environmental Protection Agency rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebook computers, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays. ^{[138] [139]}

In 2007 and 2008, Apple updated the Macbook Pro's backlighting and LCD screens, updating from cold cathode lamps to mercury-free LEDs and arsenic free LCDs respectively. ^{[140] [128]}

Criticism

• The Danish Consumer Complaints Board reported a fault with Apple's iBook line and criticized Apple's lackluster response to the issue, indicating quality-control and customer support problems at Apple.^[141] The iBook had a fault that caused the computer to break down after a certain number of computer restarts, usually outside of Apple's standard one year warranty period. Websites such as AppleDefects.com have been set up detailing issues on Apples product portfolio. ^[142][143]

• Apple has been criticized for post-launch price changes, most notably after the price of the iPhone was reduced by $200 just two months after its release, resulting in a flood of complaints to Apple.^[144][145] Apple did however attempt to rectify complaints by offering $100 store credit to early iPhone customers. ^[146][147]

• Apple has been accused of pressuring journalists to release their sources, with regards to leaked information about new Apple products, going as far as filing lawsuits against "John Does".^[148] In particular, Apple fought a protracted battle against the Think Secret web site which resulted in a "positive solution for both sides". No sources were revealed.^[149]

• There has been criticism of the iPhone and the iPod being locked into iTunes and creating a iTunes store monopoly for these devices ^[150]. Similarly, Apple has not licensed its FairPlay DRM system to any other company, preventing users from listening to DRM protected music bought from sources other than the iTunes Store.

• In 2006, Apple was criticized by the Mail on Sunday for possible sweatshop conditions in factories in China where contract manufacturers make the iPod.^[151] Immediately after the allegations, Apple launched an extensive investigation and worked with their manufacturers to remove all unacceptable conditions ^[152] but did not find any instances of sweatshop conditions. ^[153]

• The batteries in the iPod^[154], iPhone^[155] and MacBook Air ^[156] are not easily replaced by users.

• Apple was caught up in controversy regarding the online sales of music in the European Union where, as a single market, customers should be free to purchase goods and services from any member state. iTunes Stores there restricted users to only allow the purchase of content from the country to which their payment details originate, which also forced users in some countries to pay higher prices. On December 3, 2004 the British Office of Fair Trading referred the iTunes Music Store to the European Commission for violation of EU free-trade legislation. Apple commented that they did not believe they violated EU law, but were restricted by legal limits to the rights granted to them by the music labels and publishers. PC World commented that it appeared "the Commission's main target is not Apple but the music companies and music rights agencies, which work on a national basis and give Apple very little choice but to offer national stores". ^[157]

Mergers and acquisitions

Main article: List of Apple mergers and acquisitions

References

History

• Rob Price (1987). "So Far: The First Ten Years of a Vision". Apple Computer. ISBN 1-55693-974-4. 
• Ken Polsson. "Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers". Retrieved on 2008-08-18.
• "Apple III history". Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
• "Apple II history". Retrieved on 2008-08-18.

Further reading

External links

• Apple Inc.
• Apple Inc. Hoover's Factsheet
• Apple Inc. company profile—Google Finance