Apple Inc.

This article is about the technology company. For other companies named "Apple", see Apple (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Apple Corps.

Apple Inc.

Apple Campus (1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California)
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: AAPL NASDAQ-100 component S&P 500 component
ISIN	US0378331005
Industry	Computer hardware Computer software Consumer electronics Digital distribution
Founded	Cupertino, California (April 1, 1976 (1976-04-01))
Founder	Steve Jobs Steve Wozniak Ronald Wayne
Headquarters	Apple Campus, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California , U.S.
Number of locations	425 retail stores (June 2014)
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Arthur D. Levinson (Chairman) Tim Cook (CEO)
Products	Mac iPod iPhone iPad iPad Mini Apple TV OS X iLife iWork iOS
Services	Apple Store Apple Store online Mac App Store iOS App Store iTunes Store iBooks iCloud
Revenue	US$ 170.91 billion (2013) US$ 156.508 billion (2012)
Operating income	US$ 48.999 billion (2013) US$ 55.241 billion (2012)
Net income	US$ 37.037 billion (2013) US$ 41.733 billion (2012)
Total assets	US$ 207.0 billion (2013) US$ 176.064 billion (2012)
Total equity	US$ 123.549 billion (2013) US$ 118.21 billion (2012)
Number of employees	80,000 (2013)
Subsidiaries	FileMaker Inc. Anobit Braeburn Capital Beats Electronics
Website	www.apple.com

Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, online services, 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 online services include iCloud, iTunes Store, and App Store. 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. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. 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. However, the company has received criticism for its contractors' labor practices, as well as for its own environmental and business practices.

As of June 2014, Apple maintains 425 retail stores in fourteen countries, as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer. Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated market capitalization of $446 billion by January, 2014. 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 2013 totalled $170 billion. As of Q1 2014, Apple's five-year growth average is 39% for top line growth and 45% for bottom line growth. 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.

History

Main article: History of Apple Inc.

1976–80: Founding and incorporation

The Apple I, Apple's first product, was sold as an assembled circuit board and 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 to sell the Apple I personal computer kit, a computer single handedly designed by Wozniak. The kits were hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. 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. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66 ($3,570 in 2024 dollars, adjusted for inflation).

Apple was incorporated January 3, 1977, 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.

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.

The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the first "killer app" of the business world, VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program. 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. Apple was a distant third place to Commodore and Tandy until VisiCalc came along.

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.

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. 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.

On December 12, 1980, Apple went public at $22 per share, generating more capital than any IPO since Ford Motor Company in 1956 and instantly creating more millionaires (about 300) than any company in history.

1981–89: Success with Macintosh

See also: Timeline of Macintosh models

Apple's "1984" television ad, set in a dystopian future modeled after the George Orwell novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, set the tone for the introduction of the Macintosh.

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.

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 and was aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. It is now hailed as a watershed event for Apple's success and a "masterpiece".

The Macintosh initially sold well, but follow-up sales were not strong due to its high price and limited range of software titles. The Macintosh was the first personal computer to be sold without a programming language at all.

The machine's fortunes changed with the introduction of the LaserWriter, the first PostScript laser printer to be sold at a reasonable price, and PageMaker, an early desktop publishing package. It has been suggested that the combination of these three products was responsible for the creation of the desktop publishing market. The Mac was particularly powerful in the desktop publishing market due to its advanced graphics capabilities, which had necessarily been built in to create the intuitive Macintosh GUI.

In 1985 a power struggle developed between Jobs and CEO John Sculley, who had been hired two years earlier. The Apple board of directors 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 coup and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT Inc. the same year.

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

The Macintosh Portable was introduced in 1989 and was designed to be just as powerful as a desktop Macintosh, but weighed a bulky 7.5 kilograms (17 lb) with a 12-hour battery life. After the Macintosh Portable, Apple introduced the PowerBook in 1991. 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 brought increasing revenue. For some time, Apple was doing incredibly well, 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 Macintosh LC, Apple introduced the Centris line, a low-end Quadra, and the ill-fated Performa line that was sold with an overwhelming number of 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). Consumers ended up confused and did not understand the difference between models.

1990–99: Decline and restructuring

See also: Timeline of Apple II family

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, none of these products helped, as Apple's 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. 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. 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. 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. The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was finally dismissed. At the same time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced as CEO by Michael Spindler.

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. Apple had also begun to experiment in providing a Mac-only online portal which they called eWorld, developed in collaboration with America Online and designed as a Mac-friendly alternative to other online services such as CompuServe. The Macintosh platform was itself becoming outdated because 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 such as Sun Microsystems. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform, or reworked to run on more powerful hardware.

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 Motorola's PowerPC processor.

In 1996, Michael Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Gil Amelio made many changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs. After numerous 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. On July 9, 1997, Amelio was ousted by the board of directors after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs acted as the interim CEO and began restructuring the company's product line; it was during this period that Jobs identified Jonathan Ive's design talent and the pair worked collaboratively to rebuild Apple's status.

At the 1997 Macworld Expo, Jobs announced that Apple would join Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office for the Macintosh, and that Microsoft had made a $150 million investment in non-voting Apple stock. On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Apple Online Store, tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing strategy.

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 Ive, who would later design the iPod and the iPhone. The iMac featured modern technology and a unique design, and sold almost 800,000 units in its first five months.

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. The following year, Apple released two video editing products: iMovie for consumers and, for professionals, Final Cut Pro, which has gone on to be a significant video-editing program, with 800,000 registered users in early 2007. In 2002, Apple purchased Nothing Real for their advanced digital compositing application Shake, as well as Emagic for their music productivity application Logic, which led to the development of their consumer-level GarageBand application. iPhoto's release the same year completed the iLife suite.

2000–06: Return to profitability

Main article: Apple's transition to Intel processors

Apple retail stores allow potential customers to use floor models without making a purchase.
(Apple Store, North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois in 2005)

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 within Mac OS X as the Classic environment, which meant that users were able to continue running their old applications.

On May 19, 2001, Apple opened the first official Apple Retail Stores in Virginia and California. 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. 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.

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 PowerBook, made with titanium, and was followed by the iBook's white polycarbonate structure and the flat-panel iMac.

The MacBook Pro, Apple's first laptop with an Intel microprocessor, announced in January 2006.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address on June 6, 2005, Jobs announced that Apple would begin producing Intel-based Mac computers in 2006. 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 made the transition to Intel chips for the entire Mac product line—over one year sooner than announced. The Power Mac, iBook and PowerBook brands were retired during the transition; the Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro became their respective successors. On April 29, 2009, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was building its own team of engineers to design microchips. Apple also introduced Boot Camp in 2006 to help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.

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. 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." Although Apple's market share in computers had grown, it remained far behind competitors using Microsoft Windows, accounting for about 8% of desktops and laptops in the US.

2007–10: Success with mobile devices

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. 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.

In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on the iTunes Store without digital rights management (DRM), thereby allowing tracks to be played on third-party players, if record labels would agree to drop the technology. 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 2007. Other record labels eventually followed suit and Apple published a press release in January 2009 to announce the corresponding changes to the iTunes Store.

In July 2008, Apple launched the App Store to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Within a month, the store sold 60 million applications and registered an average daily revenue of $1 million, with Jobs speculating in August 2008 that the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple. An October 2008 announcement by Jobs identified Apple as the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.

On December 16, 2008, Apple announced that 2009 would be the last year the corporation would be attending the Macworld Expo, after more than 20 years of attendance. The announcement also explained that senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Philip Schiller would deliver the 2009 keynote address in lieu of the expected Jobs. The official press release explained that Apple was "scaling back" on trade shows generally, with Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris, France two other events that the corporation had ceased attendance at. The enormous success of the Apple Retail Stores and website had rendered trade shows into a minor promotional channel and was cited as the primary reason for the change.

On January 14, 2009, an internal memo from Jobs announced that he would be taking a six-month medical leave of absence from Apple until the end of June 2009, during which time he would focus on his health. In the email, Jobs also stated that he realized "the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well," further explaining that the break would allow the company "to focus on delivering extraordinary products." Despite Jobs's 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.

Template:Wikinewspar2 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, reaching 500,000 by the end of the first week. In May of the same year, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitor Microsoft for the first time since 1989.

Apple released the iPhone 4, which introduced video calling, multitasking, and a new uninsulated stainless steel design, which acts as the phone's antenna. Because of this antenna implementation, some iPhone 4 users reported a reduction in signal strength when the phone is held in specific ways. After a large amount of media coverage including mainstream news organizations, Apple held a press conference where they offered buyers a free rubber 'bumper' case, which had been proven to eliminate the signal reduction issue. Later that year Apple again refreshed its iPod line of MP3 players which introduced a multi-touch iPod Nano, iPod Touch with FaceTime, and iPod Shuffle with buttons which brought back the buttons of earlier generations.

In October 2010, Apple shares hit an all-time high, eclipsing $300. Additionally, on October 20, Apple updated their MacBook Air laptop, iLife suite of applications, and unveiled Mac OS X Lion, the last version with the name Mac OS X. On January 6, 2011, the company opened their Mac App Store, a digital software distribution platform, similar to the existing iOS App Store. Apple was featured in the documentary Something Ventured which premiered in 2011.

2011–12: Steve Jobs's death

Apple store in Yonkers, New York

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's day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions for the company." Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world. 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.

This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death. It has been argued that Apple has achieved such efficiency in its supply chain that the company operates as a monopsony (one buyer, many sellers), in that it can dictate terms to its suppliers. In July 2011, due to the American debt-ceiling crisis, Apple's financial reserves were briefly larger than those of the U.S. Government.

On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple. He was replaced by Tim Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Prior to this, Apple did not have a chairman and instead had two co-lead directors, Andrea Jung and Arthur D. Levinson, who continued with those titles until Levinson became Chairman of the Board in November.

On October 4, 2011, Apple announced the iPhone 4S, which included an improved camera with 1080p video recording, a dual core A5 chip capable of 7 times faster graphics than the A4, an "intelligent software assistant" named Siri, and cloud-sourced data with iCloud. (The iPhone 4S was officially released on October 14, 2011.)

On October 5, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had died, marking the end of an era for Apple Inc.

On October 29, 2011, Apple purchased C3 Technologies, a mapping company, for $240 million, becoming the third mapping company Apple has purchased. On January 10, 2012, Apple paid $500 million to acquire Anobit, an Israeli hardware company that developed and supplies a proprietary memory signal processing technology that improves the performance of flash-memory used in iPhones and iPads.

On January 19, 2012, Apple's Phil Schiller introduced iBooks Textbooks for iOS and iBook Author for Mac OS X in New York City. This was the first major announcement by Apple since the passing of Steve Jobs, who stated in his biography that he wanted to reinvent the textbook and education. The third-generation iPad was announced on March 7, 2012. It includes a Retina display, a new CPU, a five megapixel camera, and 1080p video recording.

On July 24, 2012, during a conference call with investors, Tim Cook said that he loved India, but that Apple was going to expect larger opportunities outside of India, citing the reason as the 30% sourcing requirement from India.

On August 20, 2012, Apple's rising stock rose the company's value to a world-record $624 billion. This beat the non-inflation-adjusted record for market capitalization set by Microsoft in 1999. On August 24, 2012, a US jury ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05 billion (£665m) in damages in an intellectual property lawsuit. Samsung said they will appeal the court ruling. Samsung subsequently prevailed on its motion to vacate this damages award, which the Court reduced by $450 million. The Court further granted Samsung's request for a new trial.

On September 12, 2012, Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, featuring an enlarged screen, more powerful processors, and running iOS 6. The latter includes a new mapping application (replacing Google Maps) that has attracted some criticism. It was made available on September 21, 2012, and became Apple's biggest iPhone launch, with over 2 million pre-orders pushing back the delivery date to late October.

On October 23, 2012, Apple unveiled the iPad Mini, which features a 7.9-inch screen in contrast to the iPad's 9.7-inch screen. Apple also released a third-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display; the fourth-generation iPad, featuring a faster processor and a Lightning dock connector; and new iMac and Mac Mini computers. After the launch of Apple's iPad Mini and fourth generation iPad on November 3, 2012, Apple announced that they had sold 3 million iPads in three days of the launch, but it did not mention the sales figures of specific iPad models.

On November 10, 2012, Apple confirmed a global settlement that would dismiss all lawsuits between Apple and HTC up to that date, in favor of a ten-year license agreement for current and future patents between the two companies. It is predicted that Apple will make $280 million a year from this deal with HTC.

In December 2012, in a TV interview for NBC's Rock Center and also aired on the Today morning show, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that in 2013 the company will produce one of its existing lines of Mac computers in the United States. In January 2013, Cook stated that he expected China to overtake the US as Apple's biggest market.

2013–present: Acquisitions and expansion

See also: List of mergers and acquisitions by Apple

In March 2013, Apple announced a patent for an augmented reality (AR) system that can identify objects in a live video stream and present information corresponding to these objects through a computer-generated information layer overlaid on top of the real-world image.

At the Worldwide Developer's Conference on June 10, 2013, Apple announced the seventh iOS operating system alongside OS X Mavericks, the tenth version of Mac OS X, and a new Internet radio service called iTunes Radio. iTunes Radio, iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks were released fall 2013. The radio service features more than 200 stations according to company's statement.

On July 2, 2013, Apple announced the recruitment of Paul Deneve, Belgian President and CEO of Yves Saint Laurent, to Apple's top ranks. A spokesperson for the company stated, "We're thrilled to welcome Paul Deneve to Apple. He'll be working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook."

Alongside Google vice-president Vint Cerf and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Cook attended a closed-door summit held by President Obama on August 8, 2013 in regard to government surveillance and the Internet in the wake of the Edward Snowden NSA incident.

A report on August 22, 2013 confirmed that Apple acquired Embark Inc., a small Silicon Valley-based mapping company. Embark builds free transit apps to help smartphone users navigate public transportation in U.S. cities such as New York, San Francisco and Chicago. Following the confirmation of the acquisition, an Apple spokesperson explained, "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." In November 2012, Embark claimed that over 500,000 people used its apps.

An anonymous Apple employee revealed to the Bloomberg media publication that the opening of a Tokyo, Japan store is planned for 2014. The construction of the store will be completed in February 2014, but as of August 29, 2013, Takashi Takebayashi, a Tokyo-based spokesman for Apple, has not made any comment to the media. A Japanese analyst has stated, "For Apple, the Japanese market is appealing in terms of quantity and price. There is room to expand tablet sales and a possibility the Japanese market expands if Apple’s mobile carrier partners increase.

On October 1, 2013, Apple India executives unveiled a plan to expand further into the Indian market, following Cook's acknowledgment of the country in July 2013 when sales results showed that iPhone sales in India grew 400% during the second quarter of 2013. In attendance at the confidential meeting were 20 CEOs and senior executives from telecom and electronic retail companies.

A mid-October 2013 announcement revealed that Burberry executive Angela Ahrendts will commence as a senior vice president at Apple in mid-2014. Ahrendts oversaw Burberry's digital strategy for almost eight years and, during her tenure, sales increased to about US$3.2 billion (2 billion pounds) and shares gained more than threefold. In a company wide memo sent on the morning of October 15, 2013, Cook explained the decision to hire Ahrendts:

She [Ahrendts] shares our values and our focus on innovation. She places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. She cares deeply about people and embraces our view that our most important resource and our soul is our people. She believes in enriching the lives of others and she is wicked smart.

On November 24, 2013, Apple Inc. confirmed the purchase of PrimeSense, an Israeli 3D sensing company based in Tel Aviv. In the following month, Apple Inc. purchased social analytics firm Topsy, one of a small number of firms with real-time access to the messages that appear on Twitter (every tweet published since 2006 is within its scope). Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with EMarketer Inc., explained: “A key point is they are one of the few companies that has access to the Twitter fire hose and can do real-time analysis of the trends and discussions happening on Twitter.” While an exact amount is unknown, the deal was apparently worth more than US$200 million, according to people with knowledge of the secret deal, and Apple spokespeople refused to disclose a purpose at the time of the acquisition.

On December 6, 2013, Apple Inc. launched iBeacon technology across its 254 U.S. retail stores. Using Bluetooth wireless technology, iBeacon senses the user's exact location within the Apple store and sends the user messages about products, events and other information, tailored to the user's location. iBeacon works as long as the user has downloaded the Apple Store app and has expressly permitted Apple to track them.

Apple Inc. reported that the company sold 51 million iPhones in the Q1 of 2014 (an all-time quarterly record), compared to 47.8 million in the year-ago quarter. Apple also sold 26 million iPads during the quarter, also an all-time quarterly record, compared to 22.9 million in the year-ago quarter. The Company sold 4.8 million Macs, compared to 4.1 million in the year-ago quarter.

On February 4, 2014, Cook met with Abdullah Gül, the President of Turkey, in Ankara to discuss the company's involvement in the Fatih project. Cook also confirmed that Turkey's first Apple Retail Store would be opened in Istanbul in April 2014.

During the proceedings of the Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. lawsuits, a previously confidential email, written by Jobs a year before his death, was presented and its content became publicly available in early April 2014. With a subject line that reads "Top 100 – A," the email was sent only to the company's 100 most senior employees and outlines Jobs's vision of Apple Inc.'s future under 10 subheadings, including a "2011 Strategy." Notably, Jobs declares a "Holy War with Google" for 2011 and schedules a "new campus" for 2015.

On May 28, 2014, Apple confirmed its intent to acquire Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's audio company Beats Electronics—producer of the Beats by Dr. Dre line of headphones and speaker products, and operator of the music streaming service Beats Music—for $3 billion. Iovine felt that Beats had always "belonged" with Apple, as the company modeled itself after Apple's "unmatched ability to marry culture and technology." In regards to the deal, Tim Cook stated that "Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple. That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world." As a result of the acquisition, Apple plans to offer Beats' products through its retail outlets and resellers, but the company has not made any further indications about how Beats will be integrated into Apple's product line.

Products

See also: Timeline of Apple products and List of products discontinued by Apple Inc.

Mac

MacBook Air

Main article: Macintosh

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

• 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.

Apple sells a variety of computer accessories for Macs, including Thunderbolt Display, Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Wireless Keyboard, Battery Charger, the AirPort wireless networking products, and Time Capsule.

iPad

Main article: iPad

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. 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. AT&T was initially the sole US provider of 3G wireless access for the iPad.

On March 2, 2011, Apple introduced the iPad 2, which had a faster processor and a camera on the front and back. It also added support for optional 3G service provided by Verizon in addition to the existing offering by AT&T. However, the availability of the iPad 2 has been limited as a result of the devastating earthquake and ensuing tsunami in Japan in March 2011.

On March 7, 2012, Apple introduced the third-generation iPad, marketed as "the new iPad". It added LTE service from AT&T or Verizon, the upgraded A5X processor, and the Retina display (2048 by 1536 resolution), originally implemented on the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The dimensions and form factor remained relatively unchanged, with the new iPad being a fraction thicker and heavier than the previous version, and minor positioning changes.

On October 23, 2012, Apple's fourth-generation iPad came out, marketed as the "iPad with Retina display". It added the upgraded A6X processor and replaced the traditional 30-pin dock connector with the all-digital Lightning connector. The iPad Mini was also introduced, with a reduced 7.9-inch display and featuring much of the same internal specifications as the iPad 2.

On October 22, 2013, Apple introduced the iPad Air. It added the new 64 bit Apple-A7 processor. The iPad mini with Retina Display was also introduced, featuring the Apple-A7 processor as well.

Since its launch, iPad users have downloaded three billion apps, while the total number of App Store downloads is over 25 billion.

iPod

Main article: iPod

The 2012 iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, and iPod Touch.

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. 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 Shuffle: Ultra-portable digital audio player, currently available in a 2 GB model, introduced in 2005.
• iPod Nano: Portable media player, currently available in a 16 GB model, introduced in 2005. Earlier models featured the traditional iPod click wheel, though the current generation features a multi-touch interface and includes an FM radio and a pedometer.
• iPod Touch: Portable media player than runs iOS, currently available in 16, 32 and 64 GB models, introduced in 2007. The current generation, which was released on September 12, 2012 features the Apple A5 processor, a Retina display, and dual cameras on the front (1.2 megapixel sensor) and back (5 megapixel iSight), the latter of which supports HD video recording at 1080p and Siri.
• iPod Classic: Portable media player, currently available in a 160 GB model, first introduced in 2001.

iPhone

The first-generation iPhone, 3G, 4, 5, 5C and 5S to scale.

Main article: iPhone

At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the long-anticipated iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and iPod. The first-generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007 for $499 (4 GB) and $599 (8 GB) with an AT&T contract. On February 5, 2008, it was updated to have 16 GB of memory, in addition to the 8 GB and 4 GB models. 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 (both "b" and "g").

At Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, 2008, Apple announced the iPhone 3G. It was released on July 11, 2008, with a reduced price of $199 for the 8 GB version, and $299 for the 16 GB version. This version added support for 3G networking and assisted-GPS navigation. The flat silver back and large antenna square of the original model were eliminated in favor of a curved glossy black or white back. Software capabilities were improved with the release of the App Store, providing applications for download that were compatible with the iPhone. On April 24, 2009, the App Store surpassed one billion downloads. At WWDC on June 8, 2009, Apple announced the iPhone 3GS. It provided an incremental update to the device, including faster internal components, support for faster 3G speeds, video recording capability, and voice control.

At WWDC on June 7, 2010, Apple announced the redesigned iPhone 4. It features a 960x640 display, the Apple A4 processor also used in the iPad, a gyroscope for enhanced gaming, 5MP camera with LED flash, front-facing VGA camera and FaceTime video calling. Shortly after its release, reception issues were discovered by consumers, due to the stainless steel band around the edge of the device, which also serves as the phone's cellular signal and Wi-Fi antenna. The issue was corrected by a "Bumper Case" distributed by Apple for free to all owners for a few months. In June 2011, Apple overtook Nokia to become the world's biggest smartphone maker by volume.

On October 4, 2011, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S, which was first released on October 14, 2011. It features the Apple A5 processor, and is the first model offered by Sprint (joining AT&T and Verizon Wireless as the United States carriers offering iPhone models). On October 19, 2011, Apple announced an agreement with C Spire Wireless to sell the iPhone 4S with that carrier in the near future, marking the first time the iPhone was officially supported on a regional carrier's network. Another notable feature of the iPhone 4S was Siri voice assistant technology, which Apple had acquired in 2010, as well as other features, including an updated 8MP camera with new optics. Apple sold 4 million iPhone 4S phones in the first three days of availability.

On September 12, 2012, Apple introduced the iPhone 5. It added a 4-inch display, 4G LTE connectivity, and the upgraded Apple A6 chip, among several other improvements. Two million iPhones were sold in the first twenty-four hours of pre-ordering and over five million handsets were sold in the first three days of its launch.

A patent filed in July 2013 revealed the development of a new iPhone battery system that uses location data in combination with data on the user's habits to moderate the handsets power settings accordingly. Apple is working towards a power management system that will provide features such as the ability of the iPhone to estimate the length of time a user will be away from a power source to modify energy usage and a detection function that adjusts the charging rate to best suit the type of power source that is being used.

In March 2013, one of the largest cellular phone companies in the United States, T-Mobile, announced that it would begin selling the iPhone 5 on April 12. The announcement of the iPhone came with the announcement that the company would begin implementing 4G cellular service for its users.

Upon the launch of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C, Apple sold over nine million devices in the first three days of its launch, which sets a new record for first-weekend smartphone sales. This was the first time that Apple has simultaneously launched two models and the inclusion of China in the list of markets contributed to the record sales result.

On October 15, 2013, U.S. Cellular, the United States fifth largest cell phone provider, announced that it would in fact begin to carry the iPhone. It is the last of the five major carriers, including AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile to acquire the phone. The phone went on sale on November 8 at U.S. Cellular stores around the country. The finalization of a deal between Apple and China Mobile, the world's largest mobile network, was announced in late December 2013. The multi-year agreement provides iPhone access to over 760 million China Mobile subscribers.

In a March 2014 interview, Ive used the iPhone as an example of Apple's ethos of creating high-quality, life-changing products, explaining that they are comparatively expensive due to the intensive effort that is used to make them:

We don’t take so long and make the way we make for fiscal reasons ... Quite the reverse. The body is made from a single piece of machined aluminium ... The whole thing is polished first to a mirror finish and then is very finely textured, except for the Apple logo. The chamfers [smoothed-off edges] are cut with diamond-tipped cutters. The cutters don’t usually last very long, so we had to figure out a way of mass-manufacturing long-lasting ones. The camera cover is sapphire crystal. Look at the details around the sim-card slot. It’s extraordinary!

Apple TV

Main article: Apple TV

The current generation Apple TV.

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

In September 2009, Apple discontinued the original 40 GB Apple TV and now continues to produce and sell the 160 GB Apple TV. On September 1, 2010, alongside the release of the new line of iPod devices for the year, Apple released a completely redesigned Apple TV. The new device is 1/4 the size, runs quieter, and replaces the need for a hard drive with media streaming from any iTunes library on the network along with 8 GB of flash memory to cache media downloaded. Apple with the Apple TV has added another device to its portfolio that runs on its A4 processor along with the iPad and the iPhone. The memory included in the device is the half of the iPhone 4 at 256 MB; the same as the iPad, iPhone 3GS, third and fourth-generation iPod Touch.

It has HDMI out as the only video out source. Features include access to the iTunes Store to rent movies and TV shows (purchasing has been discontinued), streaming from internet video sources, including YouTube and Netflix, and media streaming from an iTunes library. Apple also reduced the price of the device to $99. A third generation of the device was introduced at an Apple event on March 7, 2012, with new features such as higher resolution (1080p) and a new user interface.

Software

See also: List of Macintosh software

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.

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

Apple also offers online services with iCloud, which provides cloud storage and syncing for a wide range of data, including email, contacts, calendars, photos and documents. It also offers iOS device backup, and is able to integrate directly with third-party apps for even greater functionality. iCloud is the fourth generation of online services provided by Apple, and was preceded by MobileMe, .Mac and iTools, all which met varying degrees of success.

Corporate identity

Logo

See also: Typography of Apple Inc.

"Apple logo" redirects here. For the programming language, see Apple Logo.

First Apple logo (April 1, 1976, Prototype)

First official Apple logo from May 17, 1976 to August 26, 1999.

Current Apple logo since August 27, 1999.

According to Steve Jobs, Apple was so named because Jobs was coming back from an apple farm, and he was on a fruitarian diet. He thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".

Apple's first logo, designed by Ron Wayne, depicts Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. It was almost immediately 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. The logo was designed with a bite so that it would not be confused with a cherry. The colored stripes were conceived to make the logo more accessible, and to represent the fact the Apple II could generate graphics in color. This logo is often erroneously referred to as a tribute to Alan Turing, with the bite mark a reference to his method of suicide. Both Janoff and Apple deny any homage to Turing in the design of the logo.

On August 27, 1999 (the following year after the iMac G3 was introduced), Apple officially dropped the rainbow scheme and began to use monochromatic themes, nearly identical in shape to its previous rainbow incarnation, on various products, packaging and advertising. An Aqua-themed version of the monochrome logo was used from 1999 to 2003, and a Glass-themed version was used from 2007 to 2013. With the release of iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks in late 2013, the logo appears flat and white with no glossy effects.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were Beatles fans, but Apple Inc. had trademark issues with Apple Corps Ltd., a multimedia company started by the Beatles in 1967, involving their name and logo. This resulted in a series of lawsuits and tension between the two companies. These issues ended with settling of their most recent lawsuit in 2007.

Advertising

Main articles: Apple Inc. advertising and List of Apple Inc. slogans

Apple's first slogan, "Byte into an Apple", was coined in the late 1970s. From 1997 to 2002, the slogan "Think Different" was used in advertising campaigns, and is still closely associated with Apple. Apple also has slogans for specific product lines — for example, "iThink, therefore iMac" was used in 1998 to promote the iMac, and "Say hello to iPhone" has been used in iPhone advertisements. "Hello" was also used to introduce the original Macintosh, Newton, iMac ("hello (again)"), and iPod.

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 was criticized for the claims made by some later campaigns, particularly the 2005 Power Mac ads and iPhone ads in Britain.

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

Brand loyalty

See also: Criticism of Apple Inc. § Comparison with a cult/religion

Apple aficionados wait in line around the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City in anticipation of a new product.

"The scenes I witnessed at the opening of the new Apple store in London's Covent Garden were more like an evangelical prayer meeting than a chance to buy a phone or a laptop."

—Alex Riley, writing for the BBC

Apple's brand loyalty is considered unusual for any product. 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," while Ive explained in 2014 that "People have an incredibly personal relationship" with Apple's products.

Apple supports the continuing existence of a network of Mac User Groups in many areas where Mac computers are available. Mac users previously meet at the European Apple Expo and the San Francisco Macworld Conference & Expo trade shows, where Apple traditionally introduced new products each year, to both the industry and public, until Apple pulled out of both events—the conferences continue, but Apple is not officially represented at either event. Mac developers, in turn, continue to 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. 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. The Ginza opening in Tokyo was estimated in the thousands with a line exceeding eight city blocks.

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." Research in 2002 by NetRatings indicate that the average Apple consumer was usually more affluent and better educated than other PC company consumers. The research indicated that this correlation could stem from the fact that on average Apple Inc. products are more expensive than other PC products.

In response to a query about the devotion of loyal Apple consumers, Ive responded:

What people are responding to is much bigger than the object. They are responding to something rare — a group of people who do more than simply make something work, they make the very best products they possibly can. It’s a demonstration against thoughtlessness and carelessness.

Corporate affairs

See also: List of mergers and acquisitions by Apple, Braeburn Capital, and FileMaker Inc.

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

Ever since the first Apple Store opened, Apple has sold third-party accessories. For instance, at one point Nikon and Canon digital cameras were sold inside the store. Adobe, one of Apple's oldest software partners, 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 decision to publish an unauthorized Jobs biography, iCon. After the launch of the iBookstore, Apple stopped selling physical books, both online and at the Apple Retail Stores.

Headquarters

Main article: Apple Campus

Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarters are located in the middle of Silicon Valley, at 1–6 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.

In 2006, Apple announced its intention to build a second campus on 50 acres (200,000 m²) assembled from various contiguous plots (east of N Wolfe Road between Pruneridge Avenue and Vallco Parkway). Later acquisitions increased this to 175 acres. The new campus, also in Cupertino, will be about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the current campus. The new campus building will be designed by Norman Foster.

On October 15, 2013 it was announced that the Cupertino City Council has approved the proposed "spaceship" design campus. On June 7, 2011, Steve Jobs gave a presentation to Cupertino City Council, detailing the architectural design of the new building and its environs. The new campus is planned to house up to 13,000 employees in one central four-storied circular building (with a café for 3,000 sitting people integrated) surrounded by extensive landscape (with parking mainly underground and the rest centralized in a parking structure). The new campus will be built on the former HP headquarters, next to Interstate 280. The morning of the announcement, Apple CEO Tim Cook tweeted "Our home for innovation and creativity for decades to come. Cupertino City Council Gives Unanimous Approval for Apple's New Campus." The 2.8 million square foot facility, which will include Steve Jobs's original designs for a fitness center and corporate auditorium will be able to house 14,000 employees and will have enough parking to accommodate almost all of them.

Apple's headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are located in Cork in the south of Ireland. The facility, which opened in 1980, was Apple's first location outside of the United States. Apple Sales International, which deals with all of Apple's international sales outside of the USA, is located at Apple's campus in Cork along with Apple Distribution International, which similarly deals with Apple's international distribution network.

On April 20, 2012, Apple announced the addition of 500 new jobs to its European headquarters. This will bring the total workforce from around 2,800 to 3,300 employees. The company will build a new office block on its Hollyhill Campus to accommodate the additional staff.

Corporate culture

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 attempted to differentiate itself from its competitors. According to a 2011 report in Fortune, this has resulted in a corporate culture more akin to a startup rather than a multinational corporation.

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. This was especially after Jobs's return. To recognize the best of its employees, Apple created the Apple Fellows program, awarding individuals who 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, Steve Capps, Rod Holt, Alan Kay, Guy Kawasaki, Al Alcorn, Don Norman, Rich Page, and Steve Wozniak.

Apple is also known for strictly enforcing accountability. Each project has a "directly responsible individual," or "DRI" in Apple jargon. As an example, when iOS senior vice president Scott Forstall refused to sign Apple's official apology for numerous errors in the redesigned Maps app, he was forced to resign.

Numerous employees of Apple have cited that projects without Jobs's involvement often took longer than projects with his involvement.

At Apple, employees are specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. Jobs saw this as a means of having best-in-class employees in every role. For instance, Ron Johnson who was Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011, was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet he had no control of the inventory in his stores (which is done company wide by then-COO and now CEO Tim Cook who has a background in supply-chain management). This is the opposite of General Electric's corporate culture which has created well-rounded managers.

Under the leadership of Tim Cook, who joined the company in 1998 and ascended to his present position as CEO, Apple has developed an extremely efficient and effective supply chain which has been ranked as the world's best for the four years 2007–2010. The company's manufacturing, procurement and logistics enables it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories; Apple's profit margins have been 40 percent compared with 10–20 percent for most other hardware companies in 2011. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational edge is “Nobody wants to buy sour milk”.

The company previously advertised its products as being made in America up to the late 1990s, however as a result of outsourcing initiatives in the 2000s almost all of its manufacturing is now done abroad. According to a report by the New York Times, Apple insiders "believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have so outpaced their American counterparts that “Made in the U.S.A.” is no longer a viable option for most Apple products".

Unlike other major US companies, Apple has a relatively simple compensation policy for executives, which does not include perks that other CEOs enjoy such as country club fees and private use of company aircraft. The company usually grants stock options to executives every other year.

A media article published in July 2013 provided details about Apple's "At-Home Apple Advisors" customer support program that serves as the corporation's call center. The advisors are employed within the U.S. and work remotely after undergoing a four-week training program that also serves as a testing period. The advisors earn between US$9 and $12 per hour, and receive intensive management to ensure a high quality of customer support.

Litigation

Main article: Apple Inc. litigation

Apple has been a participant in various legal proceedings and claims since it began operation and, like its competitors and peers, engages in litigation (trying legal cases before the courts) in its normal course of business for a variety of reasons. In particular, Apple is known for and promotes itself as actively and aggressively enforcing its intellectual property interests.

Some examples include Apple v. Samsung, Apple v. Microsoft, Motorola v. Apple, Apple Corps v. Apple Computer.

Finance

In its fiscal year ending in September 2011, Apple Inc. reported a total of $108 billion in annual revenues – a significant increase from its 2010 revenues of $65 billion – and nearly $82 billion in cash reserves. Apple achieved these results while losing market share in certain product categories. On March 19, 2012, Apple announced plans for a $2.65-per-share dividend beginning in fourth quarter of 2012, per approval by their board of directors.

On September 2012, Apple reached a record share price of more than $705 and closed at above 700. With 936,596,000 outstanding shares (as of June 30, 2012), it had a market capitalization of about $660 billion. At the time, this was the highest nominal market capitalization ever reached by a publicly traded company, surpassing a record set by Microsoft in 1999.

Environmental record

Climate change and clean energy

On April 21, 2011, Greenpeace released a report highlighting the fact that data centers consumed up to 2% of all global electricity and this amount was projected to increase. Phil Radford of Greenpeace said “we are concerned that this new explosion in electricity use could lock us into old, polluting energy sources instead of the clean energy available today.” On April 17, 2012, following a Greenpeace protest of Apple, Apple Inc. released a statement committing to ending its use of coal and shifting to 100% clean energy. In 2013 Apple announced it was using 100% renewable energy to power their data centers, and overall 75% of its power comes from renewable sources.

In 2010, Climate Counts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward the greenest companies, gave Apple a score of 52 points out of a possible 100, which puts Apple in their top category "Striding". This was an increase from May 2008, when Climate Counts only gave Apple 11 points out of 100, which placed the company last among electronics companies, at which time Climate Counts also labeled Apple with a "stuck icon", adding that Apple at the time was "a choice to avoid for the climate conscious consumer".

Toxics

Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple because of various environmental issues, including a global end-of-life take-back plan, non-recyclable hardware components and toxins within iPhone hardware. Since 2003 Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple's use of particular chemicals in its products, more specifically, the inclusion of PVC and BFRs in their devices. On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs released a report announcing plans to eliminate PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008. Apple has since eliminated PVC and BFRs from its product range, becoming the first laptop manufacturer to do so.

In the first edition of the Greenpeace 'Green Electronics Guide', released in August 2006, Apple only scored 2.7/10.

The Environmental Protection Agency rates Apple highest amongst producers of notebooks, and fairly well compared to producers of desktop computers and LCD displays.

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, and has since done this for all notebooks. Apple has also left out BFRs and PVCs in various internal components. Apple offers information about emissions, materials, and electrical usage concerning each product.

In June 2009, Apple's iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, BFRs and had an efficient power adapter.

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. 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.

In October 2011, Chinese authorities ordered an Apple supplier to close part of its plant in Suzhou after residents living nearby raised significant environmental concerns.

In November 2011, Apple featured in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, which ranks electronics manufacturers on sustainability, climate and energy policy, and how "green" their products are. The company ranked fourth of fifteen electronics companies (moving up five places from the previous year) with a score of 4.6/10 down from 4.9. Greenpeace praises Apple's sustainability, noting that the company exceeded its 70% global recycling goal in 2010. It continues to score well on the products rating with all Apple products now being free of PVC vinyl plastic and brominated flame retardants. However, the guide criticizes Apple on the Energy criteria for not seeking external verification of its greenhouse gas emissions data and for not setting out any targets to reduce emissions. In January 2012, Apple announced plans and requested that their cable maker Volex begin producing halogen-free USB and power cables.

In June 2012, Apple Inc. withdrew its products from the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) certification system, but reversed this decision in July.

Labor practices

Further information: Criticism of Apple Inc. § Labor practices

Manufacturing

In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported on the working conditions that existed at factories in China where the contract manufacturers Foxconn and Inventec produced the iPod. The article stated that one complex of factories that assembles the iPod (among other items) had over 200,000 workers that lived and worked in the factory, with employees regularly working more than 60 hours per week. The article also reported that workers made around $100 per month and were required to live pay for rent and food from the company, which generally amounted to a little over half of workers' earnings.

Apple immediately launched an investigation and worked with their manufacturers to ensure acceptable working conditions. 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. In 2010, workers in China planned to sue iPhone contractors over poisoning by a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his coworkers had not been informed of possible occupational illnesses. After a spate of suicides in a Foxconn facility in China making iPads and iPhones, albeit at a lower rate than in China as a whole, workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves.

In 2011, Apple admitted that its suppliers' child labor practices in China had worsened.

Workers in factories producing Apple products have also been exposed to n-hexane, a neurotoxin that is a cheaper alternative than alcohol for cleaning the products.

In 2013, China Labor Watch said it found violations of the law and of Apple's pledges about working conditions at facilities operated by Pegatron, including discrimination against ethnic minorities and women, withholding employees' pay, excessive work hours, poor living conditions, health and safety problems and pollution.

Tax practices

Further information: Criticism of Apple Inc. § Tax practices

Global taxes paid by ASI, 2009-2011

	2011	2010	2009	Total
Pre-tax earnings	US$22 billion	US$12 billion	US$4 billion	US$38 billion
Global tax	US$10 million	US$7 million	US$4 million	US$21 million
Tax rate	0.05%	0.06%	0.1%	0.06%

Apple created subsidiaries in low-tax places such as the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the British Virgin Islands to cut the taxes it pays around the world. According to the New York Times, in the 1980s Apple was among the first tech companies to designate overseas salespeople in high-tax countries in a manner that allowed the company to sell on behalf of low-tax subsidiaries on other continents, sidestepping income taxes. In the late 1980s Apple was a pioneer of an accounting technique known as the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich," which reduces taxes by routing profits through Irish subsidiaries and the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean.

British Conservative Party Member of Parliament Charlie Elphicke published research on October 30, 2012, which showed that some multinational companies, including Apple Inc., were making billions of pounds of profit in the UK, but were paying an effective tax rate to the UK Treasury of only 3 percent, well below standard corporation tax. He followed this research by calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to force these multinationals, which also included Google and The Coca-Cola Company, to state the effective rate of tax they pay on their UK revenues. Elphicke also said that government contracts should be withheld from multinationals who do not pay their fair share of UK tax.

In June 2014 the European Commissioner for Competition launched an investigation of Apple's tax practices in Ireland, as part of a wider probe of multi-national companies' tax arrangements in various European countries.

Charitable causes

As of 2012, Apple is listed as a partner of the Product RED campaign, together with other brands such as Nike, Girl, American Express and Converse. The campaign's mission is to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child by 2015 (its byline is "Fighting For An AIDS Free Generation").

In November 2012, Apple donated $2.5 million to the American Red Cross to aid relief efforts after Hurricane Sandy.

See also

• Apple Campus
• Apple media events
• Apple Inc. litigation
• iReview
• Pixar

References

• Rob Price (1987). So Far: The First Ten Years of a Vision. Apple Computer. ISBN 978-1-55693-974-7.
• Ken Polsson. "Chronology of Events in the History of Microcomputers". Archived from the original on June 2, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
• "Apple II history". Retrieved August 18, 2008.
• "Apple III history". Retrieved August 5, 2006.
• "Apple's 2012 Annual Report: More Employees, More Office Space, More Sales".

Further reading

• Gil Amelio, William L. Simon (1999), On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple ISBN 978-0-88730-919-9
• Jim Carlton, Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania and Business Blunders ISBN 978-0-88730-965-6
• Alan Deutschman (2000), The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, Broadway, ISBN 978-0-7679-0432-2
• Andy Hertzfeld (2004), Revolution in the Valley, O'Reilly Books ISBN 978-0-596-00719-5
• Paul Kunkel, AppleDesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group ISBN 978-1-888001-25-9
• Steven Levy (1994), Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything ISBN 978-0-14-029177-3
• Owen Linzmayer (2004), Apple Confidential 2.0, No Starch Press ISBN 978-1-59327-010-0
• Michael S. Malone (1999), Infinite Loop ISBN 978-0-385-48684-2
• Frank Rose (1990), West of Eden: The End of Innocence at Apple Computer, Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-14-009372-8
• John Sculley, John A. Byrne (1987) Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple, HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-015780-7
• Steve Wozniak, Gina Smith (2006), iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It, W. W. Norton & Company, ISBN 978-0-393-06143-7
• Jeffrey S. Young (1988). Steve Jobs, The Journey is the Reward, Lynx Books, ISBN 978-1-55802-378-9
• Jeffrey S. Young, William L. Simon (2005), iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN 978-0-471-72083-6

External links

• Official website

• Business data for Apple Inc.:
  • SEC filings
• Apple Inc. companies grouped at OpenCorporates