Apple Inc.

Apple Inc.

The Apple logo designed by Rob Janoff.
Type	Public (NASDAQ: AAPL) S&P 500 Component
Industry	Computer hardware Computer software Consumer electronics Digital distribution
Predecessor	Apple Computer, Inc. (January 9, 2007 (2007-01-09))
Founded	Cupertino, California, U.S. (April 1, 1976 (1976-04-01))
Founder(s)	Steve Jobs Steve Wozniak Ronald Wayne[1]
Headquarters	1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, U.S.
Number of locations	300 (August 2010)[2]
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steve Jobs (Co-founder, Chairman and CEO) Tim Cook (COO) Peter Oppenheimer (CFO) Bob Mansfield (Mac and iPhone Hardware Engineering) Jonathan Ive (Industrial Design)[3]
Products	Mac (Pro, Mini · iMac · MacBook, Air, Pro · Xserve) iPod (Shuffle, Nano, Classic, Touch) iPhone (Original · 3G · 3GS · 4), iPad Apple TV, Cinema Display, AirPort, Time Capsule Mac OS X (Server), iLife, iWork, iOS
Services	Stores (retail, online, App, iTunes, iBooks) MobileMe
Revenue	$42.91 billion (2009)[4]
Operating income	$11.74 billion (2009)[5]
Profit	$8.24 billion (2009)[5]
Total assets	$47.50 billion (2009)[4]
Total equity	$31.64 billion (2009)[4]
Employees	34,300 (2009)[6]
Subsidiaries	Braeburn Capital, FileMaker Inc.
Website	Apple.com

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL; previously Apple Computer, Inc.) is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Apple software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools and its iOS Mobile Operating System. As of August 2010, the company operates 300 retail stores^[7] in ten countries,^[8] and an online store where hardware and software products are sold.

Established on April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, California, and incorporated January 3, 1977,^[9] the company was previously named Apple Computer, Inc., for its first 30 years, but removed the word "Computer" on January 9, 2007,^[10] to reflect the company's ongoing expansion into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers.^[11] As of September 26, 2009, Apple had 34,300 full time employees and 2,500 temporary full time employees worldwide^[12] and had worldwide annual sales of $42.91 billion in its fiscal year ending September 26, 2009.^[5]

For reasons as various as 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.^[13] Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world in 2008, 2009, and 2010.^[14][15][16] The company has also received widespread criticism for its contractors' labor, environmental, and business practices.^[17][18]

History

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,^[1] to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. They 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)—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 ($2.57 thousand in 2011 dollars, adjusted for inflation.)^{[23][24][25][26][27][28]}

Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977^[9] without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multi-millionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple.^[29][30]

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.^[31]

The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world—the VisiCalc spreadsheet program.^[32] 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.^[32] According to Brian Bagnall, Apple exaggerated its sales figures and was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.^[33][34]

By the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line. The company introduced the ill-fated Apple III in May 1980 in an attempt to compete with IBM and Microsoft in the business and corporate computing market.^[35]

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 of Apple at the pre-IPO price of $10 a share.^[36] 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.^[37]

In December 1980, Apple launched the initial public offering of its stock to the investing public. When Apple went public, it generated more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly created more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history. Several venture capitalists cashed out, reaping billions in long-term capital gains.

1981–1985: Lisa and Macintosh

The heroine from Apple's "1984" ad, set in a dystopian future modeled after the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, set the tone for the introduction of the 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.^[38]

The first Macintosh, released in 1984.

In 1984, Apple next launched the Macintosh. Its debut was announced by the now famous $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,^[39] and is now considered a watershed event for Apple's success^[40] and a "masterpiece".^[41][42]

The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong^[43] due to its high price and limited range of software titles. The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter, the first PostScript 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.^[44]

In 1985, a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO John Sculley, who had been hired two years prior.^[45] The Apple board of directors felt that products such as the Macintosh had been a failure because of dismal sales. They instructed Sculley to "contain" Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from his leadership role at Apple. Sculley found out that Jobs had been attempting to organize a putsch and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties.^[43] Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc. the same year.^[46]

Apple's sustained growth during the early 1980s was in great part due to its leadership in the education sector, attributed to an implementation of the LOGO Programming Language by Logo Computer Systems Inc., (LCSI), for the Apple II platform. The success of Apple and LOGO in the education environment provided Apple with a broad base of loyal users around the world. The drive into education was accentuated in California by a momentous agreement concluded between Steve Jobs and Jim Baroux of LCSI, agreeing with the donation of one Apple II and one Apple LOGO software package to each public school in the State. The intention was that if one package was donated to a school, this would result in the purchase of thirty more to fill at least one classroom, and additional purchases would also come from parents supporting the technological familiarity and advancement of their children. This successful strategy and arrangement between Apple and LCSI, was eventually replicated in Texas, establishing a strong and pervasive presence for Apple in all schools throughout California, which ignited the acquisition of Apple IIs in schools right across the country. The conquest of education became critical to Apple's acceptance in the home, as parents supported continued learning experience for children after school. Dominance of the education market around the world sustained Apple through the most critical period from the early to mid ‘80s.

1986–1993: Rise and fall

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.^[47] The Macintosh Portable was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh and turned out 17 pounds with a 12 hour battery life. Apple sold fewer than 100,000 units. The Powerbook was 7 pounds and had a 3 hour battery life, and sold a billion dollars worth within the first year. 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.^[45] 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 has named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.

Following the success of the Macintosh LC, Apple introduced the Centris line, a low end Quadra offering, and the ill-fated Performa line that 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 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 too-little-too-late for Apple as their market share and stock prices continued to slide.

Apple saw the Apple II series as too expensive to produce, while taking away sales from the low end Macintosh.^[48] 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.^[49] Apple stopped selling the Apple IIe in 1993.

Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows, focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers while Apple was delivering a richly engineered, but expensive, experience.^[50] 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.^[51] The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was thrown out of court. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced by Michael Spindler.^[52]

1994–1997: Attempts at reinvention

The Newton was Apple's first foray into the PDA markets, as well as one of the first in the industry. Despite being a financial flop at the time of its release, it helped pave the way for the Palm Pilot and Apple's own iPhone and iPad 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.^[53]

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.^[54]

In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including massive layoffs.^[55] 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.^[56] 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 $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock.^[57]

On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Store, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy.^[58][59]

1998–2005: Return to profitability

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.^[60][61] The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design. It sold close to 800,000 units in its first five months.^[62]

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.^[63] 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.^[64] In 2002 Apple purchased Nothing Real for their advanced digital compositing application Shake,^[65] as well as Emagic for their music productivity application Logic, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand application.^[66][67] iPhoto's release the same year completed the iLife suite.^[68]

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.

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.^[69]

On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California.^[70] later on July 9 they bought Spruce Technologies, a DVD authoring company. 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.^[71][72] 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.^[73]

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.^[74][75]

2005–2007: The 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.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006.^[76] On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Apple computers to use 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.^[76] The Power Mac, iBook, and PowerBook brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro became their respective successors.^[77][78] On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips.^[79]

Apple also introduced Boot Camp to help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.^[80]

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 $6 per share (split-adjusted) to over $80. In January 2006, Apple's market cap surpassed that of Dell.^[81] 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."^[82]

Although Apple's market share in computers has grown, it remains far behind competitors using Microsoft Windows, with only about 8% of desktops and laptops in the U.S.^[83]

2007–present: Mobile Consumer Electronics Era

Delivering his keynote 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 are just one part of the company now. This change reflects the company's focus to mobile electronic devices from personal computers. The event also saw the announcement of the iPhone and the Apple TV.^[84] The following day, Apple shares hit $97.80, an all-time high at that point. In May, Apple's share price passed the $100 mark.^[85]

In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Steve Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to 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.^[86] 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.^[87] Other record labels followed later that year.

The Mac, iPad, and iPhone now form the core of Apple's business.

In July of the following year, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.^[88] Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and brought in $1 million daily on average, with Jobs speculating that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple.^[89] Three months later, it was announced that Apple had become the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.^[90]

On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that after over 20 years of attending Macworld, 2009 would be the last year Apple would be attending the Macworld Expo, and that Phil Schiller would deliver the 2009 keynote in lieu of the expected Jobs.^[91] Almost exactly one month later, on January 14, 2009, an internal Apple memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month leave of absence, until the end of June 2009, to allow him to better focus on his health and to allow the company to better focus on its products with out having the rampant media speculating about his health.^[92] Despite Jobs' absence, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) during the recession with a revenue of $8.16 billion and a profit of $1.21 billion.^[93]

After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks" Apple announced a large screen, tablet-like media device known as the iPad on January 27, 2010. The iPad runs the same touch based operating system that the iPhone uses and many of the same iPhone apps are compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch even with very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the US and sold more than 300,000 units on that day and reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week.^[94] In May 2010, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989.^[95]

Products

Mac and accessories

The Mac mini.

• Mac mini, consumer sub-desktop computer and server 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.^[62]
• Mac Pro, workstation-class desktop computer introduced in August 2006. It replaced the Power Macintosh.
• MacBook, consumer notebook introduced in 2006. It replaced the iBook.
• MacBook Air, ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook, introduced in January 2008.
• MacBook Pro, professional portable computer alternative to the MacBook, available in 13, 15, and 17-inch variants, introduced in January 2006. It replaced the PowerBook.
• Xserve, rack mounted, dual or quad core, dual processor 1U server.

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

iPad

On January 27, 2010, Apple introduced their much-anticipated media tablet, the iPad running a modified version of iOS. It offers multitouch interaction with multimedia formats including newspapers, magazines, ebooks, textbooks, photos, movies, TV shows videos, music, word processing documents, spreadsheets, video games, and most existing iPhone apps.^[96] It also includes a mobile version of Safari for internet browsing, as well as access to the App Store, iTunes Library, iBooks store, contacts, and notepad. Content is downloadable via WIFI and optional 3G service or synced through the user's computer.^[97] AT&T is currently the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad.^[98]

iPod

iPod Nano

On October 23, 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player. It has evolved to include various models targeting the wants of different users. The iPod is the market leader in portable music players by a significant margin, with more than 220 million units shipped as of September 9, 2009.^[99] 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. Apple currently sells four variants of the iPod.

• iPod Classic (previously named iPod from 2001 to 2007), portable media player first introduced in 2001, currently available in a 160 GB model.
• iPod Nano, portable media player first introduced in 2005, currently available in 8 and 16 GB models. The newest generation has a 640x480 video camera (H.264, 30FPS) and an FM tuner with live pause and iTunes Tagging.
• iPod Shuffle, digital audio player first introduced in 2005, currently available in 2 and 4 GB models.
• iPod Touch, portable media player first introduced in September 2007. Currently available in 8, 32, and 64 GB models. The 32 and 64 GB Gen 3 models feature a faster processor and include voice control and an external microphone.

iPhone

At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated^[100] iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod.^[101] The original iPhone combined a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X (dubbed iOS, formerly iPhone OS), 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, 8, or 16 GB of memory, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi (both "b" and "g").^[101] The iPhone first became available on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T contract.^[102] On February 5, 2008, Apple updated the original iPhone to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models.^[103] On June 9, 2008, at WWDC 2008, Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 3G would be available on July 11, 2008.^[104] This version added support for 3G networking, assisted-GPS navigation, and a price cut to $199 for the 8 GB version, and $299 for the 16 GB version, which was available in both black and white. The new version was visually different from its predecessor in that it eliminated the flat silver back, and large antenna square for a curved glossy black or white back. Following complaints from many people, the headphone jack was changed from a recessed jack to a flush jack to be compatible with more styles of headphones. The software capabilities changed as well, with the release of the new iPhone came the release of Apple's App Store; the store provided applications for download that were compatible with the iPhone. On April 24, 2009, the App Store surpassed one billion downloads.^[105] On June 8, 2009, at Apple's annual worldwide developers conference, the iPhone 3GS was announced, providing an incremental update to the device including faster internal components, support for faster 3G speeds, video recording capability, and voice control. On June 7, 2010, at WWDC 2010, the iPhone 4 was announced, which Apple says is its "'biggest leap we've taken" since the original iPhone.^[106] The phone includes an all-new design, 960x640 display, Apple's A4 processor used in the iPad, a gyroscope for enhanced gaming, 5MP camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera and FaceTime video calling. Shortly after the release of the iPhone 4, it was realized by consumers that the new iPhone had reception issues. This is due to the stainless steel band around the edge of the device, which also serves as the phones cellular signal and Wi-Fi antenna. The current fix for this issue is a "Bumper Case" for the phone distributed for free to all iPhone 4 owners, subject to terms.

Apple TV

Apple TV

At the 2007 Macworld conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV),^[107] 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.^[108] On May 31, 2007 a 160 GB drive was released alongside the existing 40 GB model^[109] and on January 15, 2008 a software update was released, which allowed media to be purchased directly from the Apple TV.^[110] In September 2009, Apple discontinued the original 40 GB Apple TV and now continues to produce and sell the 160 GB Apple TV.

Software

Apple develops its own operating system to run on Macs, Mac OS X, the latest version being Mac OS X v10.6 Snow 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 that 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, Safari web browser, and Software Update 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 EE 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) that 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.^[111] Announced at MacWorld Expo 2009, iWork.com allows iWork users to upload documents for sharing and collaboration.

1. REDIRECT

Culture

Corporate

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 organizational hierarchy (flat versus tall, casual versus formal attire, etc.). Other highly successful firms with similar cultural aspects from the same period include Southwest Airlines and Microsoft. Originally, the company stood in opposition to staid competitors like IBM 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 to differentiate itself from its competitors.^[112]

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,^[113] Steve Capps,^[114] Rod Holt,^[113] Alan Kay,^[115][116] Guy Kawasaki,^[115][117] Al Alcorn,^[118] Don Norman,^[115] Rich Page,^[113] and Steve Wozniak.^[113]

Users

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".^[119] 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 would meet at the European Apple Expo and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo trade shows where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year to the industry and public until Apple pulled out of both events. While the conferences continue, Apple does not have official representation there. Mac developers, in turn, continue 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.^[120] 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.^[121] The Ginza opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.^[122]

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."^[123]

Research by NetRatings indicate that the average Apple consumer is usually more affluent and more well-educated than PC consumers, the research indicated that this correlation could stem from the fact that on average Apple Inc. products are more expensive than PC products.^[124]

Corporate affairs

Apple has a history of vertical integration in their products, manufacturing the hardware on which they pre-install their software.

During the Mac's early history Apple generally refused to adopt prevailing industry standards for hardware, instead creating their own.^[125] 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 standards such as USB.^[126] FireWire is an Apple-originated standard that has seen widespread industry adoption after it was standardized as IEEE 1394.^[127]

Ever since the first Apple Store opened, Apple has sold third party accessories.^[128] This allows, for instance, Nikon and Canon to sell their Mac-compatible digital cameras and camcorders inside the store. Adobe, one of Apple's oldest software partners,^[129] 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.^[130]

Headquarters

Company headquarters on Infinite Loop in Cupertino, California.

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 that total 850,000 square feet (79,000 m²) and was built in 1993 by Sobrato Development Cos.^[131]

In 2006, Apple announced its intention to build a second campus on 50 acres (200,000 m²) assembled from various contiguous plots. The new campus, also in Cupertino, will be about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the current campus.^[132]

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 its advertising has been criticized for the claims of some more recent campaigns, particularly 2005 Power Mac ads^{[133][134][135]} and iPhone ads in Britain.

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. Janoff presented Jobs with several different monochromatic themes for the "bitten" logo, and Jobs immediately took a liking to it. While Jobs liked the logo, he insisted it be in color to humanize the company.^[136][137] The Apple logo was designed with a bite so that it would be recognized as an apple rather than a cherry. The colored stripes were conceived to make the logo more accessible, and to represent the fact the monitor could reproduce images in color.^[138] The logo is often erroneously referred to as a tribute to Alan Turing, with the bite mark a reference to his method of suicide.^[139] Both the designer of the logo and the company deny that there is any homage to Turing in the design of the logo.^[140][141]

In 1998, with the roll-out of the new iMac, Apple discontinued the rainbow theme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation.

The original Apple logo featuring Isaac Newton under the fabled apple tree.

The rainbow "bitten" logo, used from late 1976 until replaced in 1998 by monochrome themes.

The monochrome-themed logo maintained the same shape as the rainbow theme it replaced. It is still used and often appears in various colors on various products, such as packaging and advertisements in 2003. An Aqua themed version of this logo was used from 2001 through 2003, and a "glass" themed version from 2003 on.

Slogans

Apple's first slogan, "Byte into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s.^[142] 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.^[143] Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac,^[144] and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements.^[145] "Hello" was also used to introduce the original Macintosh, Newton, iMac ("hello (again)"), and iPod.^[146]

Commercials

Apple's product commercials gained fame for launching musicians into stardom as a result of their eye-popping graphics and catchy tunes.^[147] First, the company popularized Canadian singer Feist's "1234" song in its ad campaign.^[147] Then Apple used the song "New Soul" by French-Israeli singer-songwriter Yael Naim to promote the MacBook Air.^[147] The debut single shot to the top of the charts and sold hundreds of thousands of copies in a span of weeks.^[147]

Environmental record

Greenpeace, an environmental organization, has 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.^[148][149] Since 2003 they have campaigned against Apple regarding their chemical policies, in particular the inclusion of PVC and BFRs in their products, both of which have serious negative health effects.^[148] 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."^[150] On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs released a report announcing plans to eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008.^[151][152] Apple has eliminated toxic vinyl plastic (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) across its product range.^[153] It became the first laptop maker to remove PVC and BFRs.^[154]

In Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics that scores electronics manufacturers on their policies regarding toxic chemicals, recycling and climate change, Apple ranked 5th out of 18 leading electronic makers in May 2010 with a score of 4.9/ 10.^[155] Greenpeace criticises for example that Apple has yet to make a statement on the need for mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reductions.^[156] In the first edition, released in August 2006, Apple scored 2.7/10.^[157]

In May 2008, 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."^[18]

The Environmental Protection Agency rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebook computers, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays.^[158][159]

In June 2007, Apple upgraded the MacBook Pro, replacing cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass,^[160] and has since done this for all notebooks. Apple has also phased out BFRs and PVCs from various internal components.^{[151][161][162]} Apple also offers detailed information about the emissions, materials, and electrical usage of each product.^[163] Apple has also begun to advertise how environmentally friendly their new laptops are with television spots and magazine ads along with stating these facts on their website.

In June 2009, Apple's iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, BFR's and had an efficient power adapter.^[164]

In October 2009, Apple upgraded the iMac and MacBook, replacing the cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlit LCD displays with mercury-free LED backlit LCD displays and arsenic-free glass.^[165] This means all Apple computers have mercury free LED backlit displays, arsenic-free glass and are without PVC cables. All Apple computers also have EPEAT Gold status.^[164]

Labor practices

In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported that sweatshop conditions existed in factories in China, where the contract manufacturers, Foxconn and Inventec, operate the factories that produce the iPod.^[166] The article stated that one complex of factories that assemble the iPod, among other items, for instance, had over 200,000 workers that lived and worked in the factory, with workers regularly doing more than 60 hours of labor per week. The article also reported that workers made around $100 per month were required to live on the premises and pay for rent and food from the company. Living expenses (required to keep the job) generally took up a little over half of the worker's earnings. The article also said that workers were given buckets to wash their clothes.^{[17][167][168]}

Immediately after the allegations, Apple launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure that conditions were acceptable to Apple.^[169] In 2007, Apple started yearly audits of all its suppliers regarding Worker's Rights, slowly raising standards and pruning suppliers that did not comply. Yearly progress reports have been published since 2008.^[170] In 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that they were not informed of possible occupational illnesses.^[171]

References

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

• Official website

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