Analysis Apple’s History, Development and Growth Essay Example

Analysis Apple’s History, Development and Growth Essay Analysis apple’s history, development and growth Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, a pair of 20-something college dropouts, founded Apple Computer on April Fool’s Day, 1976. Working out of the Jobs family’s garage in Los Altos, California, they built a computer circuit board that they named the Apple I. Within several months, they had made 200 sales and taken on a new partner-A. C. †Mike† Markkula, Jr. , a freshly minted millionaire who had retired from Intel at the age of 33. Markkula, who was instrumental in attracting venture capital, was the experienced businessman on the team; Wozniak was the technical genius; and jobs were the visionary who sought â€Å"to change the world through technology. † Jobs made it Apple’s mission to bring an easy-to- use computer to market. In April 1978, the company launched the Apple II, a relatively simple machine that people could use straight out of the box. The Apple II sparked a computing revolution that drove the PC industry to $1 billion in annual sales in less than three years. Apple quickly become the industry leader, selling more than 100,000 Apple IIs by the end of 1980. In December 1980,Apple launched a successful IPO. Apple’s competitive position changed fundamentally in 1981, when IBM entered the PC market. The IBM PC, which used Microsoft’s DOS operating system (OS) and a microprocessor (also called a CPU) from Intel, seemed bland and gray alongside the graphics and sound-enhanced Apple II. But the IBM Pc was a relatively â€Å"open† system that other producers could clone. We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis Apple’s History, Development and Growth specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis Apple’s History, Development and Growth specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Analysis Apple’s History, Development and Growth specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer By contrast, Apple relied on proprietary designs that only Apple could proprietary designs that only Apple could produce. As IBM-compatibles proliferated, Apple’s revenue continued to grow, but its market share dropped sharply, falling to 6. 2% in 1982. In 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh, marking a breakthrough in ease of use, industrial design, and technical elegance. Yet the Mac’s slow processor speed and a lack of compatible software limited its sales. Between 1983 and 1984, Apple’s net income fell 17%, leaving the company in crisis. In April 1985, Apple’s broad removed Jobs from an operational role. Several months later, Jobs left Apple to found new company named NexT. Those moves left John Sculley, the CEO whom Apple had recruited from Pepsi-Cola in 1983, alone at the helm. Sculley had led Pepsi’s successful charge against Coca-Cola. Now he hoped to help Apple compete against dominant players in its industry. The Sculley Years, 1985-1993 Sculley sought to make Apple a leader in desktop publishing as well as education. He also moved aggressively to bring Apple into the corporate world. Apple’s combination of superior software, such as Aldus (later Adobe) PageMaker, and peripherals, such as laser printers, gave the Macintosh unmatched capabilities in desktop publishing. Sales exploded, turning Apple’s worldwide market share stabilized at about 8%. In the education market, which contributed roughly half of Apple’s U. S. sales, the company held a share of more than 50%. Apple had $1 billion in cash and was most profitable PC Company in the world. Apple controlled the only significant alternative, both in hardware and in software, to the then prevailing IBM-compatible standard. The company practiced horizontal and vertical integration to a greater extent than any other PC company, with the typically designed its products from scratch, using unique chips, the disk drives, and monitors, as well as unusual shapes for its computers chassis. http://www. apple. com/choose-your-country/ Net sales performance Apple’s Annual Report filed on 10/27/2010. The company depends on component and product manufacturing and logistical services provided by third parties, many of whom are located outside of the U. S. † Risk factors in form 10-K, Apple’s Annual Report filed on 10/27/2010. Apple catches up to market leader Nokia: ttp://hken. ibtimes. com/articles/70050/20101008/apple-catches-up-to-market-leader-nokia. htm Apple picks Shanghai contract manufacturer— http://0-proquest. umi. com. lib. cityu. edu. hk/pqdweb? index=1 , , , , , Apple’s internal strengths and weaknesses. 1) Audit on apple’s key resources and capabilities a) E valuate apple’s resource/ capabilities and identify its strengths and weaknesses. Brief explanation with supporting evidence is expected. For details, see references for ‘Resources and capabilities’ below or search other relevant information on the web. b) Recommend appropriate strategies to enhance apple’s competitive position. 2) Assessing competence: value chain analysis (Apple Inc. , ), (Apple Computer),2007? 1? 9 Macworld Expo , , 3. 8%? Apple II? 1970 , Macintosh 1980 Apple II? Macintosh iPod iTunes , ? , ,? 1975? ,  · Atari Alex Kamradt Call Computer , Silent 700 (Popular Electronics) , ,Woz 24? , 40 , Call Computer Call Computer Alex Kamradt , ?1975 (Homebrew Computer Club) , Altair 8800? IMSAI Woz , 179 8080? 170 6800 6800, , , 1976 ? ,? MOS Technology 25 6502? , BASIC , BASIC 6502 6800 MOS Technology Motorola ), Woz , 6800 , 6502 , , ,  · Introduction Apple Computer, Inc. , is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, computer software, and commercial servers. Apples core product lines are the iPhone, iPod music player, and Macintosh computers. Co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak effectively created Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, with the release of the Apple I, and incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California. For more than two decades, Apple Computer was predominantly a manufacturer of personal computers, including the Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac lines, but faced rocky sales and low market share during the 1990s. Jobs, who had been ousted from the company in 1985, returned to become Apples CEO in 1996, and brought with him a new corporate philosophy of recognizable products and simple design. With the introduction of the successful iPod music player in 2001, Apple established itself as a leader in the consumer electronics industry, dropping Computer from its name and going on to release the iPhone and iPad. Today, Apple is the largest technology firm in the world, with annual revenue of over $60 billion. [1] The Apple I Main article: Apple I The very first Apple Computer logo, drawn by Ronald Wayne, depicts Isaac Newton under an apple tree. The Apple logo in 1977 created by Rob Janoff with the rainbow color theme used until 1998. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had been friends for some time, having met in 1971, when their mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, introduced 21-year-old Wozniak to 16-year-old Jobs. Jobs managed to interest Wozniak in assembling a machine and selling it. Jobs approached a local computer store, The Byte Shop, who said they would be interested in the machine, but only if it came fully assembled. The owner, Paul Terrell, went further, saying he would order 50 of the machines and pay US $500 each on delivery. [2] Jobs then took the purchase order that he had been given from the Byte Shop to Cramer Electronics, a national electronic parts distributor, and ordered the components he needed to assemble the Apple I Computer. The local credit manager asked Jobs how he was going to pay for the parts and he replied, I have this purchase order from the Byte Shop chain of computer stores for 50 of my computers and the payment terms are COD. If you give me the parts on a net 30 day terms I can build and deliver the computers in that time frame, collect my money from Terrell at the Byte Shop and pay you. [3] With that, the credit manager called Paul Terrell who was attending an IEEE computer conference at Asilomar in Pacific Grove and verified the validity of the purchase order. Amazed at the tenacity of Jobs, Terrell assured the credit manager if the computers showed up in his stores Jobs would be paid and would have more than enough money to pay for the parts order. The two Steves and their small crew spent day and night building and testing the computers and delivered to Terrell on time to pay his suppliers and have a tidy profit left over for their celebration and next order. Steve Jobs had found a way to finance his soon-to-be multimillion-dollar company without giving away one share of stock or ownership. The machine had only a few notable features. One was the use of a TV as the display system, whereas many machines had no display at all. This was not like the displays of later machines, however; text was displayed at a terribly slow 60 characters per second. However, this was still faster than the teletypes used on contemporary machines of that era. The Apple I also included bootstrap code on ROM, which made it easier to start up. Finally, at the insistence of Paul Terrell, Wozniak also designed a cassette interface for loading and saving programs, at the then-rapid pace of 1200  bit/s. Although the machine was fairly simple, it was nevertheless a masterpiece of design, using far fewer parts than anything in its class, and quickly earning Wozniak a reputation as a master designer. Joined by another friend, Ronald Wayne, the three started to build the machines. Using a variety of methods, including borrowing space from friends and family, selling various prized items (like calculators and a VW bus) and scrounging, Jobs managed to secure the parts needed while Wozniak and Wayne assembled them. But the owner of the Byte Shop was expecting complete computers, not just printed circuit boards. The boards still being a product for the customers Terrell still paid them. [4] Eventually 200 of the Apple Is were built. [edit] The Apple II But Wozniak had already moved on from the Apple I. Many of the design features of the I were due to the limited amount of money they had to construct the prototype, but with the income from the sales he was able to start construction of a greatly improved machine, the Apple II; it was presented to the public at the first West Coast Computer Faire on April 16 and April 17, 1977. On the first day of exhibition, Jobs introduced Apple II o a Japanese chemist named Toshio Mizushima who became the first authorized Apple dealer in Japan. The main difference internally was a completely redesigned TV interface, which held the display in memory. Now not only useful for simple text display, the Apple II included graphics, and, eventually, color. Jobs meanwhile pressed for a much improved case and keyboard, with the idea that the machine should be complet e and ready to run out of the box. This was almost the case for the Apple I machines sold to The Byte Shop, but one still needed to plug various parts together and type in the code to run BASIC. Building such a machine was going to be fiscally burdensome. Jobs started looking for cash, but Wayne was somewhat gun shy due to a failed venture four years earlier, and eventually dropped out of the company. Banks were reluctant to lend Jobs money; the idea of a computer for ordinary people seemed absurd at the time. Jobs eventually met Mike Markkula who co-signed a bank loan for US$250,000, and the three formed Apple Computer on April 1, 1976. Why Apple? At the time, the company to beat was Atari, and Apple Computer came before Atari alphabetically and thus also in the phone book. Another reason was that Jobs had happy memories of working on an Oregon apple farm one summer. [5] With both cash and a new case design in hand thanks to designer Jerry Manock, the Apple II was released in 1977 and became the computer generally credited with creating the home computer market[citation needed]. Millions were sold well into the 1980s. The Company sells its products worldwide through its online stores, its retail stores, its direct sales force, and third-party wholesalers, resellers, and value-added resellers. In addition, the Company sells a variety of third-party Macintosh (Mac), iPhone and iPod compatible products, including application software, printers, storage devices, speakers, headphones, and various other accessories and peripherals through its online and retail stores, and digital content and applications through the iTunes Store. The Company sells to consumer, small and mid-sized business (SMB), education, enterprise, government and creative customers. The Company’s reportable operating segments consist of the Americas, Europe, Japan and Retail. The Americas, Europe and Japan reportable segments do not include activities related to the Retail segment. The Americas segment includes both North and South America. The Company offers a range of personal computing products, mobile communication devices, and portable digital music and video players, as well as a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions and various third-party hardware and software products. The Company designs, develops, and markets to Mac and Windows users its iPhone mobile communication devices and its family of iPod digital music and video players, along with related accessories and services, including the online distribution of third-party digital content and applications through the Company’s iTunes Store. In addition, the Company offers its own software products, including Mac OS X, the Company’s proprietary operating system software for the Mac; server software and related solutions; professional application software; and consumer, education, and business oriented pplication software. The Company currently holds rights to patents and copyrights relating to certain aspects of its computer systems, iPhone and iPod devices, peripherals, software and services. In addition, the Company has registered and/or has applied to register, trademarks and service marks in the U. S. and a number of foreign countries for ‘Apple,’ the Apple logo, Ã¢â‚¬Ë œMacintosh,’ ‘Mac,’ ‘iPhone,’ ‘iPod,’ ‘iTunes,’ ‘iTunes Store, ’ ‘Apple TV,’ ‘Mobile Me’ and numerous other trademarks and service marks. Compliance with federal, state, local and foreign laws enacted for the protection of the environment has to date had no material effect on the Company’s capital expenditures, earnings, or competitive position. Apple designs personal computer hardware, software, and consumer devices, such as the iPod music player, the Macintosh computer, and the iPhone. Apples iTunes online store sells music and videos for download and is the largest retailer of music in the world. Apple sells its products online as well as through company stores and retail chains around the globe. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures consumer electronics and computer software products. The companys best-known hardware products include Macintosh computers, the iPod, and the iPhone. Apple software includes the Mac OS X operating system, the iTunes media browser, and the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software. Apple has established a unique reputation in the consumer electronics industry. This includes a customer base that is devoted to the company and its brand, particularly in the United States.