Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley, and known for consumer electronics, software and online services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. Its current name was adopted in 2007 as the company expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is one of the Big Tech companies.
The company was founded to market Wozniak's Apple I computer. Its successor, the Apple II, became one of the first successful mass-produced personal microcomputers. Apple introduced the Lisa in 1983 and the Macintosh in 1984, popularizing graphical user interfaces navigated by a mouse. By 1985, internal conflicts led to Jobs leaving the company to form NeXT and Wozniak stepping back from active employment. During the 1990s, Apple lost considerable market share to lower-priced Wintel computers, Intel-powered PC clones running Windows. By 1997, Apple was reporting major losses and struggling to deliver a modernized operating system, leading Apple to acquire NeXT, which brought Jobs back to the company. Under his leadership, Apple returned to profitability through the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad, the iTunes Store, the Apple Store retail chain, and the "Think different" advertising campaign. Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons and died later that year. He was succeeded as CEO by Tim Cook, who will be succeeded by John Ternus in September 2026.
Apple's product lineup includes portable and home hardware like the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods; several in-house operating systems such as iOS, iPadOS, and macOS; and various software and services including Apple Pay and iCloud, as well as multimedia streaming services like Apple Music and Apple TV. Since 2011, Apple has for the most part been the world's largest company by market capitalization, and, as of 2024, is the largest manufacturing company by revenue, the fourth-largest PC vendor, the largest vendor of tablet computers, and the largest vendor of mobile phones. Apple became the first publicly traded US company to be valued at over $1 trillion in 2018, and, as of October 2025, is valued at just over $4 trillion.
Apple has received criticism regarding its contractors' labor conditions, its relationship with trade unions, its environmental practices, and its corporate ethics, including anti-competitive tactics, materials sourcing, and its acquisitions of smaller businesses. Nevertheless, the company has a large following and enjoys a high level of customer loyalty. Apple has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most valuable brands since the late 2000s.
History
1976–1980: Founding and incorporation
Apple Computer was founded as a partnership on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The company's first product was the Apple I, designed by Wozniak and hand-built. To finance production, Jobs sold his Volkswagen Bus and Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator. Although neither received the full selling price, together they raised $1,300 (equivalent to $7,400 in 2025).
Wozniak demonstrated the first Apple I prototype at the Homebrew Computer Club in July 1976, where local computer retailer Byte Shop placed an order for 50 fully assembled computers. Unlike most contemporary hobbyist computers, which were sold as kits requiring assembly, the Apple I came as a pre-assembled motherboard with a CPU, RAM, and built-in video circuitry, allowing it to connect directly to a household television instead of requiring a costly computer terminal. Users still had to provide a case, power supply, and keyboard. It was introduced at a price of $666.66 (equivalent to $3,770 in 2025).
Apple Computer, Inc. was incorporated in Cupertino, California, on January 3, 1977, without Wayne, who had left and sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800 twelve days after its founding. Multimillionaire Mike Markkula provided business expertise and invested $250,000 (equivalent to $1,328,000 in 2025) during the company's incorporation. During its first five years, revenue grew rapidly, doubling approximately every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980, annual sales increased from $775,000 to US$118 million, an average annual growth rate of 533%.
The Apple II, also designed by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16, 1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. Alongside the Commodore PET 2001 and the TRS-80, it formed the "1977 Trinity" of influential personal computers that established the home computer market. Unlike the Apple I, the Apple II was mass-produced as a complete personal computer housed in a plastic case with a built-in keyboard, color graphics, and an open architecture. Apple introduced the Disk II 5+1⁄4-inch floppy disk drive in 1978, replacing cassette tape storage with faster and more reliable removable disks.
The Apple II became Apple's first major commercial success following the 1979 release of VisiCalc, the first widely adopted spreadsheet program and one of the earliest personal computer "killer applications". Initially available exclusively for the Apple II, VisiCalc transformed the computer into a popular business tool and helped establish Apple in the growing personal computer industry.
On December 12, 1980, Apple became a public company through an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq. The company sold 4.6 million shares at $22 each, raising more than $100 million, the largest IPO since Ford Motor Company's 1956 offering. By the end of the first day of trading, Apple's market capitalization reached $1.778 billion and more than 300 employees and investors became millionaires.
1980–1990: Success with Macintosh
In November and December 1979, Apple employees, including Jobs and Jef Raskin, visited Xerox PARC twice as part of a technology exchange negotiated by Jobs, in which Xerox was granted the right to purchase $1 million of Apple's pre-IPO stock. There they observed the experimental Xerox Alto, which featured a graphical user interface (GUI) navigated with a mouse, that inspired Jobs to incorporate a GUI into Apple's future products. Apple's first GUI-based computer, the Apple Lisa, was introduced in 1983. Although the Lisa was pioneering as a mass-marketed GUI computer, its high price and limited software library resulted in poor sales.
Jobs was removed from the Lisa project during its early development and joined the Macintosh division in 1981. The Macintosh had originally been conceived by Raskin as a low-cost, portable computer, with early contributions from Wozniak. After Wozniak stepped back following a plane crash, Jobs took over the project, transforming the Macintosh into a mouse-driven computer with a GUI similar to the Lisa. Wozniak later speculated that Jobs' rivalry with the Lisa project was the driving force behind this shift in direction. Jobs was also hostile toward the Apple II division, which at the time generated most of the company's revenue.
In 1984, Apple launched the original Macintosh on January 24, 1984, introducing it to the public with "1984", a US$1.5-million television advertisement directed by Ridley Scott that aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984. This was hailed as a watershed event for Apple's success and was called a "masterpiece" by CNN and one of the greatest TV advertisements of all time by TV Guide. Although initial Macintosh sales were strong, they declined rapidly after the first few months as reviewers criticized its limited 128 KB of RAM, small software library, and relatively high price of $2,495 (equivalent to $7,700 in 2025).
Slow Macintosh sales led to a power struggle between Jobs and chief executive officer John Sculley, whom Jobs had recruited from PepsiCo in 1983. The board of directors instructed Sculley to limit Jobs' ability to launch further expensive forays into untested products. Rather than accept Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to remove him as chief executive. Jean-Louis Gassée informed Sculley of Jobs' efforts to organize a boardroom coup, prompting an emergency meeting in which Apple's executive staff sided with Sculley. In May 1985, the board stripped Jobs of all operational duties. Jobs resigned from Apple in September 1985 and founded competitor NeXT, which developed the NeXTSTEP operating system, taking several Apple employees with him.
Wozniak had already stepped away from day-to-day operations following a 1981 plane crash. He left active employment at Apple in 1985, citing frustration that the company was prioritizing the Macintosh over the Apple II division, which continued to generate a significant portion of Apple's revenue during the mid-1980s. He remained an Apple shareholder and continued to represent the company in a ceremonial capacity.
After the departures of Jobs and Wozniak in 1985, Sculley shifted Apple's focus toward expanding the Macintosh platform and appointed Gassée to lead Macintosh development, placing him in the role previously held by Jobs. That year, Apple introduced the Macintosh 512K, which quadrupled the memory of the original Macintosh to address one of its major limitations. Apple also released the LaserWriter, one of the first affordable PostScript-based laser printers, while Aldus Corporation introduced PageMaker in July 1985. The combination of the Macintosh, LaserWriter, and PageMaker helped establish the desktop publishing market.
Apple's success in desktop publishing allowed the company to pursue a premium pricing strategy, sometimes referred to as the "high-right policy" because of its position on a price–profitability chart. Under this strategy, Apple focused on higher-margin products rather than competing on price, with executives believing that power users would continue to pay for increased performance and capabilities. The policy was championed by Gassée, who promoted a target Macintosh profit margin of 55 percent. Gassée also opposed proposals to license the Mac OS to other manufacturers. By 1988, Gassée had become head of advanced product development and worldwide marketing and was viewed by some as a potential successor to Sculley.
However, the strategy began to face challenges by the late 1980s as desktop publishing software became available on IBM PC compatible computers which sold at substantially lower prices. Apple lost its dominant position in desktop publishing as high prices alienated some customers. The 1989 holiday season marked the first decline in the company's sales history, contributing to a 20 percent drop in Apple's stock price. Relations between Sculley and Gassée deteriorated over disagreements about product strategy and pricing. In January 1990, Sculley appointed Michael Spindler as chief operating officer, reducing Gassée's influence. Gassée left Apple at the end of 1990 and founded competitor Be Inc. in 1991, which developed the BeOS operating system, taking several Apple employees with him.
1990–1997: Decline and restructuring
The company pivoted its strategy and, in October 1990, introduced three lower-cost models: the Macintosh Classic, the Macintosh LC, and the Macintosh IIsi, all of which generated strong sales. In 1991, Apple introduced the PowerBook, a commercially successful laptop whose clamshell design influenced later notebook computers. The same year, Apple introduced System 7, a major upgrade to the Macintosh operating system that introduced a color user interface and improved networking capabilities. The success of the lower-cost Macintosh models and the PowerBook brought increasing revenue, and the period from 1989 to 1991 was later described by MacAddict as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.
However, the success of the lower-cost Macintosh models also cannibalized sales of Apple's higher-end systems. In response, the company introduced several new brands, selling largely identical machines at different price points, for different markets: the high-end Quadra series, the mid-range Centris, and the consumer-oriented Performa. This led to widespread consumer confusion.
Apple discontinued the Apple II series in 1993 after encouraging developers and customers to transition to the Macintosh, bringing the company's longest-running product line to an end.
During the 1990s, Apple also introduced several consumer products, including the QuickTake digital cameras, PowerCD, the Pippin game console, eWorld, Apple Interactive Television Box, and the Newton tablet division. Although technologically ambitious, they were commercially unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, Microsoft expanded the reach of Windows by focusing on inexpensive personal computers, while Apple continued to emphasize premium hardware with high profit margins. Apple unsuccessfully sued Microsoft over similarities between Windows and the Lisa's operating system. The consumer product flops and the rapid loss of market share to Windows sullied Apple's reputation, and in 1993 Sculley was replaced as CEO by Michael Spindler.
In 1994, Apple, IBM, and Motorola formed the AIM alliance to promote the PowerPC platform. That year, Apple introduced the first Power Macintosh models using PowerPC processors. In the wake of the alliance, Apple opened up to the idea of allowing Motorola and other companies to build Macintosh clones. Over the next two years, 75 distinct Macintosh clone models were introduced. However, by 1996, Apple executives were worried that the clones were cannibalizing sales of its own high-end computers, where profit margins were highest.
In 1996, Spindler was replaced as CEO by Gil Amelio, who was hired for his reputation as a corporate rehabilitator. Amelio made big changes, including extensive layoffs and cost-cutting.
This period was also marked by repeated attempts to modernize the Macintosh operating system. The original System 1 was not built for multitasking (running several applications at once), and although Apple introduced cooperative multitasking in System 5, the company concluded that a more modern approach was needed. Internal efforts, including Pink, A/UX, and Copland, failed to produce a suitable successor, with Copland falling well behind schedule before being abandoned. Amelio began evaluating external operating systems, including Windows NT and Solaris, before entering negotiations to acquire Be Inc. and its BeOS operating system. The talks ultimately collapsed amid disagreements over the company's valuation, with Be seeking substantially more than Apple was willing to pay. Gassée later disputed that the negotiations failed solely over price, stating that disagreements over his prospective role at Apple also contributed to the breakdown.
Apple instead acquired NeXT, the company founded by Steve Jobs, for its NeXTSTEP operating system. Apple purchased NeXT for $427 million in cash, stock, stock options, and assumed debt. At the insistence of Amelio, Jobs accepted 1.5 million Apple shares to lend credibility to the deal and agreed to return to Apple as an advisor.
1997–2007: Return to profitability
The NeXT acquisition was completed on February 7, 1997. Jobs soon became frustrated with the leadership of Amelio and Apple's board, and in June 1997 anonymously sold his 1.5 million shares, sending the company's stock to a 12-year low. The stock slide rattled the board, which ousted Amelio as CEO the following month. Jobs became Apple's de facto leader and was formally appointed interim CEO on September 16.
In August 1997, Jobs secured a $150 million investment from Microsoft and a commitment to continue developing software for the Mac platform, an agreement widely viewed as beneficial to both companies following Microsoft's antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Jobs ended the Macintosh clone licensing program, and in September 1997, acquired the largest clone manufacturer, Power Computing. In November 1997, the online Apple Store launched and adopted a build-to-order manufacturing model similar to that used by Dell. By the end of 1997, Jobs had returned Apple to profitability, reporting a profit of $309 million.
Jobs streamlined Apple's product lineup, eliminating roughly 70 percent of existing models and introducing a simplified 'four-quadrant' product strategy consisting of one desktop and one laptop computer each for consumer and professional markets. The restructuring eliminated approximately 3,000 jobs.
The first major product introduced under this strategy was the iMac, unveiled on May 6, 1998. Designed by Jony Ive, the all-in-one computer featured a distinctive translucent design enclosure, emphasized Internet connectivity (the "i" in iMac), adopted modern technologies such as USB, and omitted legacy technologies like the floppy disk drive. It sold approximately 800,000 units within its first five months on the market.
Apple completed the transition to the four-quadrant lineup on July 21, 1999, with the introduction of the consumer-oriented iBook laptop. It joined the iMac and updated versions of the professional Power Macintosh desktop and PowerBook laptop, completing the simplified product matrix. Jobs said the smaller product lineup allowed Apple to focus more on quality and innovation.
During this period, Apple also focused on building an ecosystem around digital media, similar to its earlier efforts in desktop publishing, through a series of acquisitions and product launches. Apple acquired Macromedia's Key Grip digital video editing project, which became Final Cut Pro in April 1999. The technology also contributed to the development of iMovie, Apple's consumer video-editing application, released in October 1999. In April 2000, Apple acquired German company Astarte, whose DVDirector DVD authoring software was repackaged as DVD Studio Pro for professionals and adapted into iDVD for consumers. Later that year, Apple acquired SoundJam MP from Casady & Greene and relaunched it as iTunes, adding a simplified interface and CD-burning capabilities.
In 2001, Apple made three announcements that would shape its future direction. On March 24, Apple released Mac OS X, its next-generation operating system after years of failed attempts to modernize the classic Mac OS. Based on NeXTSTEP, Mac OS X combined a stable, reliable, and secure Unix foundation with a redesigned GUI. In May, Apple opened its first two Apple Store retail locations in McLean, Virginia, and Glendale, California, providing controlled spaces to showcase its products and services. Despite skepticism that it would be able to compete as a retailer, the stores succeeded, and Apple expanded to more than 500 locations worldwide. On November 10, Apple released the iPod, its first major consumer product outside the computer market in years. The portable digital audio player became a major success, selling more than 100 million units within six years.
In 2003, Apple launched the iTunes Store, allowing customers to purchase and download music for 99¢ per song. The service quickly became the leading online music retailer, reaching more than 5 billion downloads by June 2008 and becoming the world's largest music retailer two years later. The iTunes Store helped transform the music industry by shifting consumers from unauthorized file-sharing services such as Napster toward paid digital distribution.
In 2002, Apple acquired Nothing Real for its digital compositing application Shake, and Emagic, developer of the music production software Logic. The acquisition made Apple the first computer manufacturer to own a music software company and was followed by the development of the consumer-oriented GarageBand application. In 2002, Apple also introduced iPhoto, completing the iLife software suite.
At the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2005, Jobs announced that Apple would transition the Mac from PowerPC to Intel processors beginning in 2006. On January 10, 2006, the new MacBook Pro and iMac became the first Macs to use Intel's Core Duo processor. By August 7, 2006, Apple had completed the transition across the entire Mac product line, a year ahead of schedule. During the transition, the Power Mac, iBook, and PowerBook brands were retired and replaced by the Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro. Apple also introduced Boot Camp in 2006, allowing users to install Windows on Intel-based Macs alongside Mac OS X.
Between 2003 and 2006, the price of Apple's stock increased more than tenfold, from around $6 per share (split-adjusted) to over $80. When Apple surpassed Dell's market cap in January 2006, Jobs sent an email to Apple employees saying Michael Dell should eat his words, referencing his 1997 remark that, if he ran Apple, he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders".
2007–2011: Success with mobile devices
During his keynote at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007, Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would be renamed Apple Inc. to reflect the company's expanded focus on consumer electronics. He also introduced the Apple TV and the iPhone. The iPhone had been developed in secret since 2005 and was the subject of widespread speculation before its introduction. Jobs presented it as a device that combined the functions of an iPod, a mobile phone, and an Internet communications device. Unlike most contemporary mobile phones, it used a finger-operated multi-touch interface and eliminated most physical buttons. Apple sold 270,000 iPhones during the first 30 hours of sales.
In an open letter published on February 6, 2007, Jobs said Apple favored selling music on the iTunes Store without FairPlay, its digital rights management (DRM) technology, if record labels agreed to remove DRM from their music catalogs. On April 2, 2007, EMI announced that DRM would be removed from its catalog beginning in May 2007. Other record labels later followed suit, and Apple announced in January 2009 that all songs were available without DRM.
In July 2008, Apple launched the App Store for third-party iPhone applications. Within a month, the store had sold 60 million applications and generated average daily revenue of $1 million. Jobs said the App Store could become a billion-dollar business for Apple.
On January 14, 2009, Jobs announced that he would take a six-month medical leave of absence through the end of June to focus on his health. During his absence, Apple reported revenue of $8.16 billion and profit of $1.21 billion for its first fiscal quarter of 2009.
Apple introduced the iPad on January 27, 2010. It ran the same touch-based operating system as the iPhone and supported existing iPhone applications. Released in the United States on April 3, 2010, the iPad sold more than 300,000 units on its first day and more than 500,000 during its first week. In May 2010, Apple's market capitalization exceeded Microsoft's for the first time since 1989.
On January 17, 2011, Jobs announced in an internal Apple memo that he would take another indefinite medical leave to focus on his health. Chief operating officer Tim Cook assumed responsibility for Apple's day-to-day operations while Jobs remained involved in major strategic decisions. In June 2011, Jobs introduced iCloud, an online storage and synchronization service that replaced MobileMe. It was the last Apple product launch presented by Jobs before his death.
On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned as Apple's chief executive officer because of his health. Cook succeeded him as CEO, and Jobs became chairman of Apple, a new position at the company. Arthur Levinson succeeded Jobs as chairman in November 2011 following Jobs' death.
2011–2020: Post-Jobs era, new devices
On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died, marking the end of an era for Apple. The next major product announcement by Apple was on January 19, 2012, when Apple's Phil Schiller introduced iBooks Textbooks for iOS and iBooks Author for Mac OS X in New York City. Jobs stated in the biography Steve Jobs that he wanted to reinvent the textbook industry and education.
From 2011 to 2012, Apple released the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5, which featured improved cameras, an intelligent software assistant named Siri, and cloud-synced data with iCloud; the third- and fourth-generation iPads, which featured Retina displays; and the iPad Mini, which featured a 7.9-inch screen in contrast to the iPad's 9.7-inch screen. These launches were successful, with the iPhone 5 (released September 21, 2012) becoming Apple's biggest iPhone launch with over two million pre-orders and sales of three million iPads in three days following the launch of the iPad Mini and fourth-generation iPad (released November 3, 2012). Apple also released a third-generation 13-inch MacBook Pro with a Retina display and new iMac and Mac Mini computers.
On August 20, 2012, Apple's rising stock price increased the company's market capitalization to a then-record $624 billion. This beat the non-inflation-adjusted record for market capitalization previously 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 appealed the damages award, which was reduced by $450 million and further granted Samsung's request for a new trial. On November 10, 2012, Apple confirmed a global settlement that dismissed all existing 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 US$280 million per year from this deal with HTC.
In May 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 US$3 billion, and to sell its products through Apple's retail outlets and resellers. Iovine believed that Beats had always "belonged" with Apple, as the company modeled itself after Apple's "unmatched ability to marry culture and technology". The acquisition was the largest purchase in Apple's history.
During a press event on September 9, 2014, Apple introduced a smartwatch called the Apple Watch. Initially, Apple marketed the device as a fashion accessory and a complement to the iPhone, that would allow people to look at their smartphones less. Over time, the company has focused on developing health and fitness-oriented features on the watch, in an effort to compete with dedicated activity trackers. In January 2016, Apple announced that over one billion Apple devices were in active use worldwide.
On June 6, 2016, Fortune released the Fortune 500, its annual list of companies ranked on revenue generation. In the trailing fiscal year of 2015, Apple was listed as the top tech company. It ranked third, overall, with US$233 billion in revenue. This represents a movement upward of two spots from the previous year's list.
In June 2017, Apple announced the HomePod, its smart speaker aimed to compete against Sonos, Google Home, and Amazon Echo. Toward the end of the year, TechCrunch reported that Apple was acquiring Shazam, a company that introduced its products at WWDC and specializing in music, TV, film and advertising recognition. The acquisition was confirmed a few days later, reportedly costing Apple US$400 million, with media reports that the purchase looked like a move to acquire data and tools bolstering the Apple Music streaming service. The purchase was approved by the European Union in September 2018.
Also in June 2017, Apple appointed Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg to head the newly formed worldwide video unit. In November 2017, Apple announced it was branching out into original scripted programming: a drama series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, and a reboot of the anthology series Amazing Stories with Steven Spielberg. In June 2018, Apple signed the Writers Guild of America's minimum basic agreement and Oprah Winfrey to a multi-year content partnership. Additional partnerships for original series included Sesame Workshop and DHX Media and its subsidiary Peanuts Worldwide, and a partnership with A24 to create original films.