Apple is one of the most famous and profitable companies in the world and in the information technology industry. If we take into account the criterion of assets, it ranks first in the world and third as a mobile phone manufacturer.

The beginning of the story

It all started quite banally, with a kind of “American dream” that sprouted from the latest ideas of the time, back in the 1970s. A couple of high school friends, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, decided to start assembling computers in the garage of a friend. They were able to realize several dozen devices, which became the foundation for the founding of Apple Computer Inc. on April 1, 1976.

The innovators were supported by Ron Wayne, who worked with Steve at Atari. At that time, he received 10 percent of the company’s shares in the new project, but sold it very quickly, on April 12, 1976, for $800. Apparently, he regretted it very much over time, because in 2012 his capital was much larger and would have amounted to $70 billion.

The beginning of the personal computer era.

Apple I

Steve Jobs, in tandem with Steve Wozniak, put in a lot of effort and developed the first truly personal computer, the Apple I. It should be noted that it was significantly different from the PCs we are used to seeing now. The device looked like a wooden box and was delivered to stores without a monitor. The processor frequency reached 1 MHz, and the RAM was 4 kilobytes. The Apple I could be purchased in a batch of 50 machines, which gave hope and a reason for further cooperation.

Apple II

April 1977 brought the world another innovative idea from the Steves. It was an Apple II. This device was radically different from the previous one and offered the following characteristics:

• 64K memory capacity in the top models;
• integrated keyboard;
• magnetic tape storage device;
• NTSC display with a resolution of 280 x 192;
• color graphics and sound;
• two floppy disk slots;
• the first graphic games, such as Mystery House.

The company began to grow quite rapidly and therefore already in 1978 had its own office and several employees. Every month Apple’s revenue increased and amounted to $118 million in 1980.

The same year, on December 12, the company went public, and the value of 1 share was $22, which significantly influenced the further enrichment of Apple’s owners.

Lisa and Macintosh

Steve Jobs started working on the new Apple Lisa project in 1978. However, he was expelled from the development team and preferred another project by Jeff Reskin, the Macintosh.

In 1984, Apple introduced the 32-bit Macintosh PC to the general public, which was based on a graphical interface and used a mouse. Initially, this device was a great success, but over time, sales declined significantly due to its high price.

1986-1993: ups and downs

After working on the bugs, Apple presented the PowerBook in 1991, which looked like a modern laptop. This device weighed 17 pounds and had a battery that could hold a charge for 12 hours. A total of 100,000 were sold.

Next came the PowerBook, which was characterized by a lighter weight of 7 pounds and a 3-hour battery.

In the same year, the company released System 7, which became the main upgrade to the operating system. It added color to the interface and introduced new network capabilities.

MacAddict magazine called the period between 1989 and 1991 the “First Golden Age” of the Macintosh.

However, not all of the company’s projects were successful. Developers often experimented with digital cameras, portable CD players, and television products. However, consumers did not see any particular need or difference between the two, which had a negative impact on the company’s share price.

Future activities

During 2005-2007, we could observe new growth of Apple, which at that time began active cooperation with another well-known company, Intel.

On August 7, 2006, Apple developers switched all Macintosh PCs to Intel chips. The production of such devices as Power Mac, iBook, and PowerBook was discontinued and replaced with MacPro, MacBook, and MacBook Pro.

To help users install Windows XP or Windows Vista on Macs along with Mac OS X, the company offered the Boot Camp program.

During 2007-2011, Apple was actively engaged in the development, modernization and sale of mobile devices that gained incredible popularity among users around the world.

In 2019, the company focused on services, as smartphones brought it less than half of its profits.

So, today, Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world. The range of its products is very wide: PCs, laptops, mobile phones, services, software, and even an electric car.