Apple

Type:	Public
Industry:	Internet
Founded:	April 1, 1976
Founder(s):	Steve Paul Jobs Stephen Gary Wozniak Ronald Gerald Wayne
Headquarters:	Apple Campus 1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, California,
Country:	USA
Products:	Mac,iPod, iPhone, iPad Apple TV, Mac OS X, iLife, iWork and iOS
Employees:	49, 400 as of 2010 Form 10-K
Revenue:	$ 65.23 billion as of 2010 Form 10-K
Website:	www.apple.com
Key People
Tim Cook, CEO

Apple Inc. is an American company engaged in designing, manufacturing and selling computers digital electronic products, mobile communications and media devices, software, networking solutions as well as third party digital contents and applications. Apple is recognized as the most valuable technology company and the world's largest publicly traded company with $ 222.12 billion market capitalization surpassing Microsoft in 2010. The company's headquarters is located in Cupertino, California.

History

The Early Days of Apple & its Founders

Steven Jobs, Stephen Wozniac and Ronald Wayne founded Apple on April 1, 1976. Jobs and Wozniac started developing Apple 1, a computer circuit board without sound, case, keyboard or graphics at Job's bedroom at Los Altos and later moved to the garage when the space became crowded. During that time, Jobs was working for Atari where he met Wayne who was working as a draftsman in the company. Jobs encouraged Wayne to join Apple as a partner and offered him 10% interest in the company. Jobs thought that having Wayne as a partner in the company will be helpful in case, a conflict arise between him and Woz in the future. Wayne's vote will serve as a deciding factor. Wayne worked at nights documenting the Apple 1 computer while Jobs focused on finding clients. Jay Terrel, owner of Byte Shop ordered 50 fully assembled computers at $500 each, cash on delivery after Jobs demonstrated the capabilities of the Apple 1 computer during a Homebrew Computer Club meeting. The partners do not have enough money to buy the parts for the 50 computers but Jobs was persistent and was able to borrow $5,000 from Wozniac's co-workers at Hewlett-Packard. Suppliers also agreed to a 30 days extension to pay for a $15,000 credit. Meanwhile, Wayne wasn't so sure if he is willing to take another financial risk because of his prior failure with his own engineering firm. Wayne opted to give up his 10% stake in the partnership and accepted a one time payment of $800 to get out of the agreement. Jobs delivered the 50 computers to Terrel and made an $8000 from the transaction. After that, orders for the Apple 1 computer increased and Jobs needed more capital to expand their business.

Apple Computer's Original Investors

Mike Markkula, a former Executive from Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor helped Jobs developed a long-term business plan for Apple Computer. He invested $92,000 and secured a credit line of $250,000 to provide sufficient funds to operate the business.Arthur Rock also invested in the company. On January 3, 1997, Apple Computer was incorporated. By that time, the corporation has $600,000 capital and hired Michael Scott to serve as President of the company.

The corporation bought the original partnership of Jobs, Wozniac and Wayne for $5,308.96 to avoid legal problems in the future. Wayne was given 1/3 of the amount although he voluntarily relinquished his rights on the partnership agreement.

The Apple II

In 1977, Apple Computer launched Apple II, the first complete pre-assembled personal computer with casing, standard keyboad, power supply and color graphics capability. It's price was $1, 295 each. On that year alone, the corporation recorded $2.7 million sales. It was considered one of the most user-friendly, mass marketed personal computer during that decade with a built-in BASIC programming language and an eight slot expansion capability. The success of the product was due to its spreadsheet program VisiCalc, which made Apple II a significant machine for business owners. The corporation released a series of Apple II computers and sold more than 6 million units until the mid 80s.

Initial Public Offering

Apple Computer's Initial Public Offering (IPO) was held on December 12, 1980. The corporation originally filed to sell its stocks at $14 per share but the stock opened at $22. Apple Computer sold 46 million shares and the stock price closed at $29 per share on its first day of trading. The company recorded a $1.778 billion market valuation. The Apple Computer IPO was recorded the largest in the United States Corporate History since Ford Motor Co.