Apple Inc.

Apple Inc.is an Americanmultinationaltechnology companyheadquartered inCupertino, California, inSilicon Valley. It is best known for itsconsumer electronics,software, andservices. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company bySteve Jobs,Steve WozniakandRonald Wayne, the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. It was renamed Apple Inc. in 2007 as the company had expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is thelargest technology company by revenue, withUS$391.04billion in the 2024fiscal year.
The company was founded to produce and market Wozniak'sApple Ipersonal computer. Its second computer, theApple II, became a best seller as one of the first mass-producedmicrocomputers. Apple introduced theLisain 1983 and theMacintoshin 1984, as some of the first computers to use agraphical user interfaceand amouse. By 1985, internal company problems led to Jobs leaving to formNeXT, Inc., and Wozniak withdrawing to other ventures;John Sculleyserved as long-time CEO for over a decade. In the 1990s, Apple lost considerablemarket sharein thepersonal computerindustry to the lower-pricedWintelduopoly of theMicrosoft Windowsoperating systemonIntel-poweredPC clones. In 1997, Apple was weeks away frombankruptcy. To resolve its failed operating system strategy, it bought NeXT, effectively bringing Jobs back to the company, who guided Apple back to profitability over the next decade with the introductions of theiMac,iPod,iPhone, andiPaddevices to critical acclaim as well as theiTunes Store, launching the "Think different"advertisingcampaign, and opening theApple Storeretail chain. These moves elevated Apple to consistently be one of the world'smost valuable brandssince about 2010. Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons, and died two months later; he was succeeded as CEO byTim Cook.
Apple's current product lineupincludes portable and home hardware such as the iPhone, iPad,Apple Watch,Mac, andApple TV;operating systemssuch asiOS,iPadOS, andmacOS; andvarious softwareand services includingApple Pay,iCloud, and multimediastreamingservices likeApple MusicandApple TV+. Apple is one of theBig FiveAmericaninformation technologycompanies;for the most part since 2011,Apple has been the world'slargest company by market capitalization, and, as of 2023, is thelargest manufacturing company by revenue, thefourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales, thelargest vendor of tablet computers, and thelargest vendor of mobile phonesin the world. Apple became the firstpublicly tradedU.S. company to bevalued at over $1 trillionin 2018, and, as of December 2024, is valued at just over $3.74 trillion.
Applehas received criticismregardingits contractors' labor practices,its relationship with trade unions,its environmental practices, and its business ethics, includinganti-competitive practicesand materials sourcing. Nevertheless, the company hasa large followingand enjoys a high level ofbrand loyalty.
Apple Computer Companywas founded on April 1, 1976, bySteve Jobs,Steve Wozniak, andRonald Wayneas apartnership.The company's first product is theApple I, a computer designed and hand-built entirely by Wozniak.To finance its creation, Jobs sold hisVolkswagen Bus, and Wozniak sold hisHP-65calculator.Neither received the full selling price but in total earned$1,300(equivalent to $7,000 in 2023). Wozniak debuted the first prototypeApple Iat theHomebrew Computer Clubin July 1976.The Apple I was sold as amotherboardwithCPU,RAM, and basic textual-video chips—a base kit concept which was not yet marketed as a complete personal computer.It was priced soon after debut for$666.66(equivalent to $3,600 in 2023).Wozniak later said he was unaware of the coincidentalmark of the beastin the number 666, and that he came up with the price because he liked "repeating digits".
Apple Computer, Inc.was incorporated inCupertino, California,on January 3, 1977,without Wayne, who had left and sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800 only twelve days after having co-founded it.MultimillionaireMike Markkulaprovided essential business expertise and funding of$250,000(equivalent to $1,257,000 in 2023) to Jobs and Wozniak during the incorporation of Apple.During the first five years of operations, revenues grew exponentially, doubling about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980, yearly sales grew from $775,000 toUS$118million, an average annual growth rate of 533%.
TheApple II, also designed by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16, 1977, at the firstWest Coast Computer Faire.It differs from its major rivals, theTRS-80andCommodore PET, because of its character cell-based color graphics andopen architecture. The Apple I and early Apple II models use ordinaryaudio cassette tapesas storage devices, which were superseded by the5+1⁄4-inchfloppy diskdrive and interface called theDisk IIin 1978.
The Apple II was chosen to be the desktop platform for the firstkiller applicationof the business world:VisiCalc, aspreadsheetprogramreleased in 1979.VisiCalc created a business market for the Apple II and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II: compatibility with the office,but Apple II market share remained behindhome computersmade by competitors such asAtari,Commodore, andTandy.
On December 12, 1980, Apple (ticker symbol "AAPL") went public selling 4.6 million shares at $22 per share ($.10 per share when adjusting forstock splitsas of September 3, 2022),generating over $100 million, which was more capital than any IPO sinceFord Motor Companyin 1956.By the end of the day, around 300 millionaires were created, including Jobs and Wozniak, from a stock price of $29 per shareand a market cap of $1.778 billion.
In December 1979, Steve Jobs and Apple employees, includingJef Raskin, visitedXerox PARC, where they observed theXerox Alto, featuring agraphical user interface(GUI). Apple subsequently negotiated access to PARC's technology, leading to Apple's option to buy shares at a preferential rate. This visit influenced Jobs to implement a GUI in Apple's products, starting with theApple Lisa. Despite being pioneering as a mass-marketed GUI computer, the Lisa suffered from high costs and limited software options, leading to commercial failure.
Jobs, angered by being pushed off the Lisa team, took over the company'sMacintoshdivision. Wozniak and Raskin had envisioned the Macintosh as a low-cost computer with a text-based interface like the Apple II, but a plane crash in 1981 forced Wozniak to step back from the project. Jobs quickly redefined the Macintosh as a graphical system that would be cheaper than the Lisa, undercutting his former division.Jobs was also hostile to the Apple II division, which at the time, generated most of the company's revenue.
In 1984, Apple launched the Macintosh, the first personal computer without a bundledprogramming language.Its debut was signified by "1984", aUS$1.5million television advertisement directed byRidley Scottthat aired during the third quarter ofSuper Bowl XVIIIon January 22, 1984.This was hailed as a watershed event for Apple's successand was called a "masterpiece" byCNNand one of the greatest TV advertisements of all time byTV Guide.
The advertisement created great interest inMacintosh, and sales were initially good, but began to taper off dramatically after the first three months as reviews started to come in. Jobs had required128 kilobytesof RAM, which limited its speed and software in favor of aspiring for a projected price point of$1,000(equivalent to $2,900 in 2023). The Macintosh shipped for$2,495(equivalent to $7,300 in 2023), a price panned by critics due to its slow performance.In early 1985, this sales slump triggered a power struggle between Steve Jobs and CEOJohn Sculley, who had been hired away fromPepsitwo years earlier by Jobssaying, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world?"Sculley removed Jobs as the head of the Macintosh division, with unanimous support from the Apple board of directors.
The board of directors instructed Sculley to contain Jobs and his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from leadership.Jean-Louis Gasséeinformed Sculley that Jobs had been attempting to organize aboardroom coupand called an emergency meeting at which Apple's executive staff sided with Sculley and stripped Jobs of all operational duties.Jobs resigned from Apple in September 1985 and took several Apple employees with him to foundNeXT.Wozniak had also quit his active employment at Apple earlier in 1985 to pursue other ventures, expressing his frustration with Apple's treatment of the Apple II division and stating that the company had "been going in the wrong direction for the last five years".Wozniak remained employed by Apple as a representative,receiving a stipend estimated to be $120,000 per year.Jobs and Wozniak remained Apple shareholders following their departures.
After the departures of Jobs and Wozniak in 1985, Sculley launched theMacintosh 512Kthat year with quadruple the RAM, and introduced theLaserWriter, the first reasonably pricedPostScriptlaser printer.PageMaker, an earlydesktop publishingapplication taking advantage of the PostScript language, was also released byAldus Corporationin July 1985.It has been suggested that the combination of Macintosh, LaserWriter, and PageMaker was responsible for the creation of thedesktop publishingmarket.
This dominant position in the desktop publishing marketallowed the company to focus on higher price points, the so-called "high-right policy" named for the position on a chart of price vs. profits. Newer models selling at higher price points offered higherprofit margin, and appeared to have no effect on total sales aspower userssnapped up every increase in speed. Although some worried about pricing themselves out of the market, the high-right policy was in full force by the mid-1980s, due to Jean-Louis Gassée's slogan of "fifty-five or die", referring to the 55%profit marginsof theMacintosh II.
This policy began to backfire late in the decade as desktop publishing programs appeared onIBM PC compatibleswith some of the same functionality of the Macintosh at far lower price points. The company lost its dominant position in the desktop publishing market and estranged many of its original consumer customer base who could no longer afford Apple products. TheChristmas seasonof 1989 was the first in the company's history to have declining sales, which led to a 20% drop in Apple's stock price.During this period, the relationship between Sculley and Gassée deteriorated, leading Sculley to effectively demote Gassée in January 1990 by appointingMichael Spindleras thechief operating officer.Gassée left the company later that year to set up a rival,Be Inc.
The company pivoted strategy and, in October 1990, introduced three lower-cost models: theMacintosh Classic, theMacintosh LC, and theMacintosh IIsi, all of which generated significant sales due to pent-up demand.In 1991, Apple introduced the hugely successfulPowerBookwith a design that set the current shape for almost all modern laptops. The same year, Apple introducedSystem 7, a major upgrade to the Macintosh operating system, adding color to the interface and introducing new networking capabilities.
The success of the lower-cost Macs and PowerBook brought increasing revenue.For some time, Apple was doing very well, introducing fresh new products at increasing profits. The magazineMacAddictnamed the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.
The success of lower-cost consumer Macs, especially the LC, cannibalized higher-priced machines. To address this, management introduced several new brands, selling largely identical machines at different price points, for different markets: the high-endQuadraseries, the mid-rangeCentrisseries, and the consumer-marketedPerformaseries. This led to significant consumer confusion between so many models.
In 1993, theApple IIseries was discontinued. It was expensive to produce, and the company decided it was still absorbing sales from lower-cost Macintosh models. After the launch of the LC, Apple encouraged developers to create applications for Macintosh rather than Apple II, and authorized salespersons to redirect consumers from Apple II and toward Macintosh.TheApple IIewas discontinued in 1993.
Apple experimented with several other unsuccessful consumer targeted products during the 1990s, includingQuickTakedigital cameras,PowerCDportable CD audio players,speakers, thePippinvideo game console, theeWorldonline service, andApple Interactive Television Box. Enormous resources were invested in the problematicNewtontablet division, based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts.
Throughout this period, Microsoft continued to gain market share withWindowsby focusing on delivering software to inexpensive personal computers, while Apple was delivering a richly engineered but expensive experience.Apple relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response; it sued Microsoft for making a GUI similar to theLisainApple Computer, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.The lawsuit dragged on for years and was finally dismissed. The major product flops and the rapid loss of market share to Windows sullied Apple's reputation, and in 1993 Sculley was replaced as CEO byMichael Spindler.
Under Spindler, Apple,IBM, andMotorolaformed theAIM alliancein 1994 to create a new computing platform (thePowerPC Reference Platformor PReP), with IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind and thus counter the dominance of Windows. That year, Apple introduced thePower Macintosh, the first of many computers with Motorola'sPowerPCprocessor.
In the wake of the alliance, Apple opened up to the idea of allowing Motorola and other companies to buildMacintosh 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 byGil Amelio, who was hired for his reputation as a corporate rehabilitator. Amelio made deep changes, including extensive layoffs and cost-cutting.
This period was also marked by numerous failed attempts to modernize the Macintosh operating system (MacOS). The original Macintosh operating system (System 1) was not built for multitasking (running several applications at once). The company attempted to correct this by introducingcooperative multitaskingin System 5, but still decided it needed a more modern approach.This led to thePinkproject in 1988,A/UXthat same year,Coplandin 1994, and evaluated the purchase ofBeOSin 1996. Talks with Be stalled when the CEO, former Apple executiveJean-Louis Gassée, demanded $300 million in contrast to Apple's $125 million offer.Only weeks away frombankruptcy,Apple's board preferredNeXTSTEPand purchasedNeXTin late 1996 for $400 million, retainingSteve Jobs.
The NeXT acquisition was finalized on February 9, 1997,and the board brought Jobs back to Apple as an advisor. On July 9, 1997, Jobs staged a boardroom coup that resulted in Amelio's resignation after overseeing a three-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. The board named Jobs as interim CEO and he immediately reviewed the product lineup. Jobs canceled 70% of models, ending 3,000 jobs and paring to the core of its computer offerings.
The next month, in August 1997, Steve Jobs convinced Microsoft to make a $150 million investment in Apple and a commitment to continue developing Mac software.This was seen as an "antitrust insurance policy" for Microsoft which had recently settled with the Department of Justice over anti-competitive practices in theUnited States v. Microsoft Corp.case.Around then, Jobs donated Apple's internal library and archives toStanford University, to focus more on the present and the future rather than the past.He ended the Mac clone deals and in September 1997, purchased the largest clone maker,Power Computing.On November 10, 1997, theApple Store websitelaunched, which was tied to a new build-to-order manufacturing model similar to PC manufacturerDell's success.The moves paid off for Jobs; at the end of his first year as CEO, the company had a $309 million profit.
On May 6, 1998, Apple introduced a new all-in-one computer reminiscent of the original Macintosh: theiMac. The iMac was a huge success, with 800,000 units sold in its first five months,and ushered in major shifts in the industry by abandoning legacy technologies like the3+1⁄2-inch diskette, being an early adopter of theUSBconnector, and coming pre-installed with Internet connectivity (the "i" in iMac)via Ethernet and a dial-up modem. Its striking teardrop shape and translucent materials were designed byJonathan Ive, who had been hired by Amelio, and who collaborated with Jobs for more than a decade to reshape Apple's product design.
A little more than a year later on July 21, 1999, Apple introduced theiBookconsumer laptop. It culminated Jobs's strategy to produce only four products: refined versions of thePower Macintosh G3desktop andPowerBook G3laptop for professionals, and the iMac desktop and iBook laptop for consumers. Jobs said the small product line allowed for a greater focus on quality and innovation.
Around then, Apple also completed numerous acquisitions to create a portfolio of digital media production software for both professionals and consumers. Apple acquiredMacromedia's Key Grip digital video editing software project which was launched asFinal Cut Proin April 1999.Key Grip's development also led to Apple's release of the consumer video-editing productiMoviein October 1999.Apple acquired the German company Astarte in April 2000, which had developed theDVD authoringsoftware DVDirector, which Apple repackaged as the professional-orientedDVD Studio Pro, and reused its technology to createiDVDfor the consumer market.In 2000, Apple purchased theSoundJam MPaudio player software fromCasady & Greene. Apple renamed the programiTunes, and simplified the user interface and added CD burning.
In 2001, Apple changed course with three announcements. First, on March 24, 2001, Apple announced the release of a new modern operating system,Mac OS X. This was after numerous failed attempts in the early 1990s, and several years of development. Mac OS X is based onNeXTSTEP,OpenStep, andBSD Unix, to combine the stability, reliability, and security ofUnixwith the ease of use of an overhauled user interface. Second, in May 2001, the first twoApple Storeretail locations opened in Virginia and California, offering an improved presentation of the company's products.At the time, many speculated that the stores would fail, but they became highly successful, and the first of more than 500 stores around the world.Third, on October 23, 2001, theiPodportable digital audio player debuted. The product was first sold on November 10, 2001, and was extremely successful, with over 100 million units sold within six years.
In 2003, theiTunes Storewas introduced withmusic downloadsfor 99¢ a song and iPod integration. It quickly became the market leader in online music services, with over 5 billion downloads by June 19, 2008.Two years later, the iTunes Store was the world's largest music retailer.
In 2002, Apple purchasedNothing Realfor its advanced digitalcompositingapplicationShake,andEmagicfor the music productivity applicationLogic. The purchase of Emagic made Apple the first computer manufacturer to own a music software company. The acquisition was followed by the development of Apple's consumer-levelGarageBandapplication.The release ofiPhotothat year completed theiLifesuite.
At theWorldwide Developers Conferencekeynote address on June 6, 2005, Jobs announced that Apple would move away from PowerPC processors, and theMac would transition to Intel processorsin 2006.On January 10, 2006, the newMacBook ProandiMacbecame the first Apple computers to use Intel'sCore DuoCPU. 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; theMac Pro,MacBook, and MacBook Pro became their respective successors.Apple also introducedBoot Campin 2006 to help users installWindows XPorWindows Vistaon their Intel Macs alongside Mac OS X.
Apple's success during this period was evident in itsstock 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.When Apple surpassed Dell'smarket capin January 2006,Jobs sent an email to Apple employees saying Dell's CEOMichael Dellshould eat his words.Nine years prior, Dell had said that if he ran Apple he would "shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders".
During his keynote speech at theMacworld Expoon January 9, 2007, Jobs announced the renaming of Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple Inc., because the company had broadened its focus from computers to consumer electronics.This event also saw the announcement of theiPhoneand theApple TV.The company sold 270,000first-generation iPhonesduring the first 30 hours of sales,and the device was called "a game changer for the industry".
In an article posted on Apple's website on February 6, 2007, Jobs wrote that Apple would be willing to sell music on theiTunes Storewithoutdigital rights management, thereby allowing tracks to be played on third-party players if record labels would agree to drop the technology.On April 2, 2007, Apple andEMIjointly 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 that all songs on the iTunes Store are available without theirFairPlayDRM.
In July 2008, Apple launched theApp Storeto sell third-party applications for the iPhone andiPod 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.By October 2008, Apple was the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world due to the popularity of the iPhone.
On January 14, 2009, Jobs announced in an internal memo that he would be taking a six-month medicalleave of absencefrom Apple until the end of June 2009 and would spend the time focusing on his health. In the email, Jobs stated that "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", and explained that the break would allow the company "to focus on delivering extraordinary products".Though Jobs was absent, Apple recorded its best non-holiday quarter (Q1 FY 2009) duringthe recession, with revenue of $8.16 billion and profit of $1.21 billion.
After years of speculation and multiple rumored "leaks", Apple unveiled a large screen, tablet-like media device known as theiPadon January 27, 2010. The iPad ran the same touch-based operating system as the iPhone, and all iPhone apps were compatible with the iPad. This gave the iPad a large app catalog on launch, though having very little development time before the release. Later that year on April 3, 2010, the iPad was launched in the U.S. It sold more than 300,000 units on its first day, and 500,000 by the end of the first week.In May 2010, Apple's market cap exceeded that of competitorMicrosoftfor the first time since 1989.
In June 2010, Apple released theiPhone 4,which introducedvideo callingusingFaceTime,multitasking, and a new design with an exposedstainless steelframe as the phone's antenna system. Later that year, Apple again refreshed theiPodline by introducing amulti-touchiPod Nano, an iPod Touch withFaceTime, and aniPod Shufflethat brought back theclickwheelbuttons of earlier generations.It also introduced the smaller, cheaper second-generation Apple TV which allowed the rental of movies and shows.
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 officerTim Cookassumed Jobs's day-to-day operations at Apple, although Jobs would still remain "involved in major strategic decisions".Apple became the most valuable consumer-facing brand in the world.In June 2011, Jobs surprisingly took the stage and unveilediCloud, an online storage and syncing service for music, photos, files, and software which replacedMobileMe, Apple's previous attempt at content syncing.This would be the last product launch Jobs would attend before his death.
On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned his position as CEO of Apple.He was replaced by Cook and Jobs became Apple's chairman. Apple did not have a chairman at the timeand instead had two co-lead directors—Andrea JungandArthur D. Levinson—who continued with those titles until Levinson replaced Jobs as chairman of the board in November after Jobs's death.
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'sPhil SchillerintroducediBooksTextbooks for iOS and iBook Author for Mac OS X in New York City.Jobs stated in the biographySteve Jobsthat he wanted to reinvent thetextbookindustry and education.
From 2011 to 2012, Apple released theiPhone 4sandiPhone 5,which featured improved cameras, anintelligent software assistantnamedSiri, and cloud-synced data with iCloud; thethird-andfourth-generation iPads, which featuredRetina displays;and theiPad 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-ordersand 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-inchMacBook Prowith a Retina display and newiMacandMac Minicomputers.
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 byMicrosoftin 1999.On August 24, 2012, a US jury ruled that Samsung should pay Apple $1.05 billion (£665m) in damages in anintellectual propertylawsuit.Samsung appealed the damages award, which was reduced by $450 millionand 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 makeUS$280million per year from this deal with HTC.
In May 2014, Apple confirmed its intent to acquireDr. DreandJimmy Iovine's audio companyBeats Electronics—producer of the "Beats by Dr. Dre" line of headphones and speaker products, and operator of the music streaming serviceBeats Music—forUS$3billion, and to sell their 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 asmartwatchcalled theApple Watch.Initially, Apple marketed the device as afashion accessoryand 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 dedicatedactivity trackers. In January 2016, Apple announced that over one billion Apple devices were in active use worldwide.
On June 6, 2016,FortunereleasedFortune 500, its 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, withUS$233billion in revenue.This represents a movement upward of two spots from the previous year's list.
In June 2017, Apple announced theHomePod, itssmart speakeraimed to compete againstSonos,Google Home, andAmazon Echo.Toward the end of the year,TechCrunchreported that Apple was acquiringShazam, 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 AppleUS$400million, with media reports that the purchase looked like a move to acquire data and tools bolstering theApple Musicstreaming service.The purchase was approved by theEuropean Unionin 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 seriesstarringJennifer AnistonandReese Witherspoon, and a reboot of the anthology seriesAmazing StorieswithSteven Spielberg.In June 2018, Apple signed theWriters Guild of America's minimum basic agreement andOprah Winfreyto a multi-year content partnership.Additional partnerships for original series includeSesame WorkshopandDHX Mediaand its subsidiaryPeanuts Worldwide, and a partnership withA24to create original films.
During theApple Special Eventin September 2017, theAirPowerwireless charger was announced alongside theiPhone X,iPhone 8, andWatch Series 3. The AirPower was intended to wirelessly charge multiple devices, simultaneously. Though initially set to release in early 2018, the AirPower would be canceled in March 2019, marking the first cancellation of a device under Cook's leadership.On August 19, 2020, Apple's share price briefly topped $467.77, making it the first US company with a market capitalization ofUS$2trillion.
During its annualWWDCkeynote speech on June 22, 2020, Apple announced it would move away from Intel processors, and theMac would transition to processors developed in-house.The announcement was expected by industry analysts, and it has been noted that Macs featuring Apple's processors would allow for big increases in performance over current Intel-based models.On November 10, 2020, the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini became the first Macs powered by an Apple-designed processor, theApple M1.
In April 2022, it was reported thatSamsung Electro-Mechanicswould be collaborating with Apple on its M2 chip instead ofLG Innotek.Developer logs showed that at least nine Mac models with four different M2 chips were being tested.
The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple's effort to develop its own chips left it better prepared to deal with the semiconductor shortage that emerged during theCOVID-19 pandemic, which led to increased profitability, with sales of M1-based Mac computers rising sharply in 2020 and 2021. It also inspired other companies likeTesla,Amazon, andMeta Platformsto pursue a similar path.
In April 2022, Apple opened an online store that allowed anyone in the U.S. to view repair manuals and order replacement parts for specific recent iPhones, although the difference in cost between this method and official repair is anticipated to be minimal.
In May 2022, a trademark was filed for RealityOS, an operating system reportedly intended for virtual and augmented reality headsets, first mentioned in 2017. According to Bloomberg, the headset may come out in 2023.Further insider reports state that the device uses iris scanning for payment confirmation and signing into accounts.
On June 18, 2022, the Apple Store inTowson, Maryland, became the first to unionize in the U.S., with the employees voting to join theInternational Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
On July 7, 2022, Apple added Lockdown Mode to macOS 13 and iOS 16, as a response to the earlier Pegasus revelations; the mode increases security protections for high-risk users against targetedzero-daymalware.
Apple launched abuy now, pay laterservice called 'Apple Pay Later' for itsApple Walletusers in March 2023. The program allows its users to apply for loans between $50 and $1,000 to make online or in-app purchases and then repaying them through four installments spread over six weeks without any interest or fees.
In November 2023, Apple agreed to a $25 million settlement in aU.S. Department of Justicecase that alleged Apple was discriminating against U.S. citizens in hiring. Apple created jobs that were not listed online and required paper submission to apply for, while advertising these jobs to foreign workers as part of recruitment forPERM.
In January 2024, Apple announced compliance with the European Union's competition law, with major changes to the App Store and other services, effective on March 7. This enables iOS users in the 27-nation bloc to use alternative app stores, and alternative payment methods within apps. This adds a menu in Safari for downloading alternative browsers, such as Chrome or Firefox.
In June 2024, Apple introducedApple Intelligenceto incorporate on-device artificial intelligence capabilities.
On November 1, 2024, Apple announced its acquisition ofPixelmator, a company known for its image editing applications for iPhone and Mac. Apple had previously showcased Pixelmator's apps during its product launches, including naming Pixelmator Pro its Mac App of the Year in 2018 for its innovative use of machine learning and AI. In the announcement, Pixelmator stated that there would be no significant changes to its existing apps following the acquisition.
On December 31, 2024, a preliminary settlement was filed in the Oakland, California federal court that accused Apple of unlawfully recording private conversations through unintentional Siri activations and shared them with third parties, including advertisers. Apple agreed to a $95 million cash settlement to resolve this lawsuit in which its Siri assistant violated user privacy. While denying any wrongdoing, Apple settled the case, allowing affected users to potentially claim up to $20 per device. Attorneys sought $28.5 million in fees from the settlement fund.
Since the company's founding and into the early 2000s, Apple primarily sold computers, which are marketed asMacintoshsince the mid-1980s. Since then, the company has expanded its product categories to include various portable devices, starting with the now discontinuediPod(2001), and later with theiPhone(2007) andiPad(2010). Apple also sells several other products that it categorizes as "Wearables, Home and Accessories", such as theApple Watch,Apple TV,AirPods,HomePod, andApple Vision Pro.
Apple devices have been praised for creatinga cohesive ecosystemwhen used in conjunction with other Apple products,though have received criticism for not functioning as well or with as many features when used with competitive devices and instead often relying on Apple's proprietary features, software, and services to work as intended by Apple, an approach often described as "walled garden".As of 2023, there are over 2 billion Apple devices in active use worldwide.
Mac, which is short for Macintosh—its official name until 1999—is Apple's line of personal computers that use the company's proprietarymacOSoperating system. Personal computers were Apple's original business line, but as of the end of 2024they account for only about eight percent of the company's revenue.
There are six Mac computer families in production:
Often described as awalled garden, Macs useApple siliconchips, run themacOSoperating system, and include Apple software like theSafariweb browser,iMoviefor home movie editing,GarageBandfor music creation, and theiWorkproductivity suite. Apple also sellspro apps:Final Cut Profor video production,Logic Profor musicians and producers, andXcodefor software developers. Apple also sells a variety of accessories for Macs, including thePro Display XDR,Apple Studio Display,Magic Mouse,Magic Trackpad, andMagic Keyboard.
The iPhone is Apple's line ofsmartphones, which run theiOSoperating system. Thefirst iPhonewas unveiled by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007. Since then, newiPhone modelshave been released every year. When it was introduced, itsmulti-touchscreen was described as "revolutionary" and a "game-changer" for the mobile phone industry. The device has been credited with creating theapp economy.
iOS is one of the two major smartphoneplatformsin the world, alongsideAndroid. The iPhone has generated large profits for the company, and is credited with helping to make Apple one of the world's most valuable publicly traded companies.As of the end of 2024, the iPhone accounts for nearly half of the company's revenue.
The iPad is Apple's line oftabletswhich runiPadOS. Thefirst-generation iPadwas announced on January 27, 2010. The iPad is mainly marketed for consuming multimedia, creating art, working on documents, videoconferencing, and playing games. The iPad lineup consists of several base iPad models, and the smalleriPad Mini, upgradediPad Air, and high-endiPad Pro. Apple has consistently improved the iPad's performance, with the iPad Pro adopting the sameM1andM2chips as the Mac; but the iPad still receives criticism for its limited OS.
As of September 2020,Apple has sold more than 500 million iPads, though sales peaked in 2013.The iPad still remains themost popular tablet computer by salesas of the second quarter of 2020,and accounted for seven percent of the company's revenue as of the end of 2024.Apple sells severaliPad accessories, including theApple Pencil,Smart Keyboard,Smart Keyboard Folio,Magic Keyboard, and several adapters.
Apple makes several other products that it categorizes as "Wearables, Home and Accessories".These products include theAirPodsline of wireless headphones,Apple TVdigital media players,Apple Watchsmartwatches,Beatsheadphones,HomePodsmart speakers, and theVision Promixed reality headset. As of the end of 2024, this broad line of products comprises about ten percent of the company's revenues.
Apple offers a broad line of services, including advertising in theApp Storeand Apple News app, theAppleCare+extended warranty plan, theiCloud+cloud-based data storage service, payment services through theApple Cardcredit card and theApple Payprocessing platform, digital content services includingApple Books,Apple Fitness+,Apple Music,Apple News+,Apple TV+, and theiTunes Store. As of the end of 2024, services comprise about 26% of the company's revenue.In 2019, Apple announced it would be making a concerted effort to expand its service revenues.
According to Steve Jobs, the company's name was inspired by his visit to an apple farm while on afruitariandiet.Apple's first logo, designed byRon Wayne, depictsSir Isaac Newtonsitting under an apple tree. It was almost immediately replaced byRob Janoff's "rainbow Apple", the now-familiar rainbow-colored silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it.This logo has been erroneously referred to as a tribute toAlan Turing, with the bite mark a reference tohis method of suicide.
On August 27, 1999,Apple officially dropped the rainbow scheme and began to use monochromatic logos nearly identical in shape to the previous rainbow incarnation. AnAqua-themed version of the monochrome logo was used from 1998 until 2003, and a glass-themed version was used from 2007 until 2013.
Apple evangelistswere actively engaged by the company at one time, but this was after the phenomenon had already been firmly established. AppleevangelistGuy Kawasakihas called the brand fanaticism "something that was stumbled upon",while Ive claimed in 2014 that "people have an incredibly personal relationship" with Apple's products.
Fortunemagazine 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 surpassedCoca-Colato become the world's most valuable brand in theOmnicom Group's "Best Global Brands" report.Boston Consulting Grouphas ranked Apple as the world's most innovative brand every year as of 2005.As of January 2021,1.65 billion Apple products were in active use.In February 2023, that number exceeded 2 billion devices.In 2023, theWorld Intellectual Property Organization(WIPO)'s Madrid Yearly Review ranked Apple Inc.'s number of marks applications filled under theMadrid Systemas 10th in the world, with 74trademarksapplications submitted during 2023.
Apple was ranked the No. 3 company in the world in the 2024Fortune 500list.
Apple's first slogan, "Byteinto 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.
From the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984, with the1984 Super Bowl advertisementto the more modernGet a Macadverts, Apple has been recognized for its efforts toward effective advertising and marketing for its products. However, claims made by later campaignswere criticized,particularly the 2005 Power Mac ads.Apple's product advertisements gained significant attention as a result of their eye-popping graphics and catchy tunes.Musicians who benefited from an improved profile as a result of their songs being included on Apple advertisements include Canadian singerFeistwith the song "1234" andYael Naïmwith the song "New Soul".
The first Apple Stores were originally opened as two locations in May 2001 by then-CEOSteve Jobs,after years of attempting but failing store-within-a-store concepts.Seeing a need for improved retail presentation of the company's products, he began an effort in 1997 to revamp the retail program to get an improved relationship to consumers, and hiredRon Johnsonin 2000.Jobs relaunched Apple's online store in 1997,and opened the first two physical stores in 2001.The media initially speculated that Apple would fail,but its stores were highly successful, bypassing the sales numbers of competing nearby stores, and within three years reached US$1 billion in annual sales, becoming the fastest retailer in history to do so.
Over the years, Apple has expanded the number of retail locations and its geographical coverage, with 499 stores across 22 countries worldwide as of December 2017.Strong product sales have placed Apple among the top-tier retail stores, with sales over $16 billion globally in 2011.Apple Stores underwent a period of significant redesign, beginning in May 2016. This redesign included physical changes to the Apple Stores, such as open spaces and re-branded rooms, and changes in function to facilitate interaction between consumers and professionals.
Many Apple Stores are located inside shopping malls, but Apple has built several stand-alone "flagship" stores in high-profile locations.It has been granted designpatentsand received architectural awards for its stores' designs and construction, specifically for its use of glass staircases and cubes.The success of Apple Stores have had significant influence over other consumer electronics retailers, who have lost traffic, control and profits due to a perceived higher quality of service and products at Apple Stores.Due to the popularity of the brand, Apple receives a large number of job applications, many of which come from young workers.Although Apple Store employees receive above-average pay, are offered money toward education and health care, and receive product discounts,there are limited or no paths of career advancement.
On March 16, 2020, France fined Apple €1.1 billion for colluding with two wholesalers to stifle competition and keep prices high by handicapping independent resellers. The arrangement created aligned prices for Apple products such as iPads and personal computers for about half the French retail market. According to the French regulators, the abuses occurred between 2005 and 2017 but were first discovered after a complaint by an independent reseller, eBizcuss, in 2012.
On August 13, 2020,Epic Games, the maker of the popular gameFortnite,suedboth Apple andGoogleafterFortnitewas removed from Apple's and Google's app stores. The lawsuits came after Apple and Google blocked the game after it introduced a direct payment system that bypassed the fees that Apple and Google had imposed.In September 2020, Epic Games founded theCoalition for App Fairnesstogether with thirteen other companies, which aims for better conditions for the inclusion of apps in the app stores.Later, in December 2020,Facebookagreed to assist Epic in their legal game against Apple, planning to support the company by providing materials and documents to Epic. Facebook had, however, stated that the company would not participate directly with the lawsuit, although did commit to helping with the discovery of evidence relating to the trial of 2021. In the months prior to their agreement, Facebook had been dealing with feuds against Apple relating to the prices of paid apps and privacy rule changes.Head of ad products for Facebook Dan Levy commented, saying that "this is not really about privacy for them, this is about an attack on personalized ads and the consequences it's going to have on small-business owners," commenting on the full-page ads placed by Facebook in various newspapers in December 2020.
Apple has publicly taken a pro-privacy stance, actively making privacy-conscious features and settings part of its conferences, promotional campaigns, and public image.With itsiOS 8mobile operating system in 2014, the company started encrypting all contents ofiOSdevices through users' passcodes, making it impossible at the time for the company to provide customer data to law enforcement requests seeking such information.With the popularity rise of cloud storage solutions, Apple began a technique in 2016 to dodeep learningscans for facial data in photos on the user's local device and encrypting the content before uploading it to Apple'siCloudstorage system.It also introduced "differential privacy", a way to collect crowdsourced data from many users, while keeping individual users anonymous, in a system thatWireddescribed as "trying to learn as much as possible about a group while learning as little as possible about any individual in it".Users are explicitly asked if they want to participate, and can actively opt-in or opt-out.
However, Apple has aided law enforcement in criminal investigations by providing iCloud backups of users' devices,and the company's commitment to privacy has been questioned by its efforts to promotebiometric authenticationtechnology in its neweriPhone models, which do not have the same level ofconstitutional privacyas a passcode in the United States.
With Apple's release of an update toiOS 14, Apple required all developers of iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch applications to directly ask iPhone users permission to track them. The feature, called "App Tracking Transparency", received heavy criticism fromFacebook, whose primary business model revolves around the tracking of users' data and sharing such data with advertisers so users can see more relevant ads, a technique commonly known astargeted advertising. After Facebook's measures, including purchasing full-page newspaper advertisements protesting App Tracking Transparency, Apple released the update in early 2021. A study byVerizonsubsidiary Flurry Analytics reported only 4% of iOS users in the United States and 12% worldwide have opted into tracking.
Prior to the release ofiOS 15, Apple announced new efforts at combatingchild sexual abuse materialon iOS and Mac platforms. Parents of minoriMessageusers can now be alerted if their child sends or receives nude photographs. Additionally, on-devicehashingwould take place on media destined for upload to iCloud, and hashes would be compared to a list of known abusive images provided by law enforcement; if enough matches were found, Apple would be alerted and authorities informed. The new features received praise from law enforcement and victims rights advocates. However, privacy advocates, including theElectronic Frontier Foundation, condemned the new features as invasive and highly prone to abuse by authoritarian governments.
Ireland'sData Protection Commissionlaunched a privacy investigation to examine whether Apple complied with the EU'sGDPRlaw following an investigation into how the company processes personal data with targeted ads on its platform.
In December 2019, security researcherBrian Krebsdiscovered that theiPhone 11 Prowould still show the arrow indicator –signifying location services are being used– at the top of the screen while the main location services toggle is enabled, despite all individual location services being disabled. Krebs was unable to replicate this behavior on older models and when asking Apple for comment, he was told by Apple that "It is expected behavior that the Location Services icon appears in the status bar when Location Services is enabled. The icon appears for system services that do not have a switch in Settings."Apple later further clarified that this behavior was to ensure compliance withultra-widebandregulations in specific countries, a technology Apple started implementing in iPhones starting with iPhone 11 Pro, and emphasized that "the management of ultra wideband compliance and its use of location data is done entirely on the device and Apple is not collecting user location data." Will Strafach, an executive at security firmGuardian Firewall, confirmed the lack of evidence that location data was sent off to a remote server. Apple promised to add a new toggle for this feature and in later iOS revisions Apple provided users with the option to tap on the location services indicator in Control Center to see which specific service is using the device's location.
According to published reports byBloomberg Newson March 30, 2022, Apple turned over data such as phone numbers, physical addresses, andIP addressesto hackers posing as law enforcement officials using forged documents. The law enforcement requests sometimes includedforged signaturesof real or fictional officials. When asked about the allegations, an Apple representative referred the reporter to a section of the company policy for law enforcement guidelines, which stated, "We review every data request for legal sufficiency and use advanced systems and processes to validate law enforcement requests and detect abuse."
The key trends for Apple are, as of each financial year ending September 24:
As of January 3, 2025, the management of Apple Inc. includes:
As of January 20, 2023, theboard of directorsof Apple Inc. includes:
As of December 30, 2023, the largest shareholders of Apple were:
Apple is one of several highly successful companies founded in the 1970s that bucked the traditional notions ofcorporate culture. Jobs often walked around the office barefoot even after Apple became aFortune 500company. By the time of the "1984" television advertisement, Apple's informal culture had become a key trait that differentiated it from its competitors.According to a 2011 report inFortune, this has resulted in a corporate culture more akin to a startup rather than a multinational corporation.In a 2017 interview, Wozniak credited watchingStar Trekand attendingStar Trekconventionsin his youth as inspiration for co-founding Apple.
As the company has grown and been led by a series of differently opinionated chief executives, some media have suggested that it has lost some of its original character.Nonetheless, it has maintained a reputation for fostering individuality and excellence that reliably attracts talented workers, particularly after Jobs returned.Numerous Apple employees have stated that projects without Jobs's involvement often took longer than others.
The AppleFellowsprogram awards employees for extraordinary technical or leadership contributions topersonal computing. Recipients includeBill Atkinson,Steve Capps,Rod Holt,Alan Kay,Guy Kawasaki,Al Alcorn,Don Norman,Rich Page,Steve Wozniak,andPhil Schiller.
Jobs intended that employees were to be specialists who are not exposed to functions outside their area of expertise. For instance,Ron Johnson—Senior Vice President of Retail Operations until November 1, 2011—was responsible for site selection, in-store service, and store layout, yet had no control of the inventory in his stores. This was done by Tim Cook, who had a background in supply-chain management.Apple is known for strictly enforcing accountability. Each project has a "directly responsible individual" or "DRI" in Apple jargon.Unlike other major U.S. companies, Apple provides a relatively simple compensation policy for executives that does not include perks enjoyed by other CEOs like country club fees or private use of company aircraft. The company typically grants stock options to executives every other year.
In 2015, Apple had 110,000 full-time employees. This increased to 116,000 full-time employees the next year, a notable hiring decrease, largely due to its first revenue decline. Apple does not specify how many of its employees work in retail, though its 2014SECfiling put the number at approximately half of its employee base.In September 2017, Apple announced that it had over 123,000 full-time employees.
Apple has a strong culture ofcorporate secrecy, and has an anti-leakGlobal Security team that recruits from theNational Security Agency, theFederal Bureau of Investigation, and theUnited States Secret Service.In December 2017,Glassdoorsaid Apple was the 48th best place to work, having originally entered at rank 19 in 2009, peaking at rank 10 in 2012, and falling down the ranks in subsequent years.In 2023,Bloomberg'sMark Gurmanrevealed the existence of Apple's Exploratory Design Group (XDG), which was working to add glucose monitoring to the Apple Watch. Gurman compared XDG to Alphabet'sX "moonshot factory".
Apple Inc.'s world corporate headquarters are located inCupertino, in the middle of California'sSilicon Valley, at Apple Park, a massive circulargroundscraperbuilding with acircumferenceof one mile (1.6 km). The building opened in April 2017 and houses more than 12,000 employees. Apple co-founderSteve Jobswanted Apple Park to look less like abusiness parkand more like a nature refuge, and personally appeared before the Cupertino City Council in June 2011 to make the proposal, in his final public appearance before his death.
Apple also operates from the Apple Campus (also known by its address, 1 Infinite Loop), a grouping of six buildings in Cupertino that total 850,000 square feet (79,000 m) located about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of Apple Park.The Apple Campus was the company's headquarters from its opening in 1993, until the opening of Apple Park in 2017. The buildings, located at 1–6Infinite Loop, are arranged in a circular pattern around a centralgreen space, in a design that has been compared to that of auniversity.
In addition to Apple Park and the Apple Campus, Apple occupies an additional thirty office buildings scattered throughout the city of Cupertino, including three buildings as prior headquarters: Stephens Creek Three from 1977 to 1978, Bandley One from 1978 to 1982, and Mariani One from 1982 to 1993.In total, Apple occupies almost 40% of the available office space in the city.
Apple's headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) are located inCorkin the south ofIreland, called the Hollyhill campus.The facility, which opened in 1980, houses 5,500 people and was Apple's first location outside of the United States.Apple's international sales and distribution arms operate out of the campus in Cork.
Apple has two campuses near Austin, Texas: a 216,000-square-foot (20,100 m) campus opened in 2014 houses 500 engineers who work onApple siliconand a 1.1-million-square-foot (100,000 m) campus opened in 2021 where 6,000 people work in technical support, supply chain management, online store curation, andApple Mapsdata management. The company also has several other locations in Boulder, Colorado; Culver City, California; Herzliya (Israel), London, New York, Pittsburgh, San Diego, and Seattle that each employ hundreds of people.
Apple has been a participant in various legal proceedings and claims since it began operation.In particular, Apple is known for and promotes itself as actively and aggressively enforcing its intellectual property interests. Some litigation examples includeApple v. Samsung,Apple v. Microsoft,Motorola Mobility v. Apple Inc., andApple Corps v. Apple Computer. Apple has also had to defend itself against charges on numerous occasions of violating intellectual property rights. Most have been dismissed in the courts asshell companiesknown aspatent trolls, with no evidence of actual use ofpatentsin question.On December 21, 2016, Nokia announced that in the U.S. and Germany, it has filed a suit against Apple, claiming that the latter's products infringe on Nokia's patents.
Most recently, in November 2017, theUnited States International Trade Commissionannounced an investigation into allegations of patent infringement in regards to Apple's remote desktop technology; Aqua Connect, a company that builds remote desktop software, has claimed that Apple infringed on two of its patents.In January 2022,Ericssonsued Apple over payment of royalty of5Gtechnology.On June 24, 2024, theEuropean Commissionaccused Apple of violating theDigital Markets Actby preventing "app developers from freely steering consumers to alternative channels for offers and content".
As of 2023, Apple is the world'slargest technology company by revenue, with US$383.28 billion;the world's largest technology company bytotal assets;thefourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales;and the world'slargest mobile phone manufacturer.
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 incash reserves.On March 19, 2012, Apple announced plans for a $2.65-per-sharedividendbeginning in fourth quarter of 2012, per approval by their board of directors.
The company's worldwide annual revenue in 2013 totaled $170 billion.In May 2013, Apple entered the top ten of theFortune500list of companies for the first time, rising 11 places above its 2012 ranking to take the sixth position.As of 2016, Apple has around US$234 billion of cash and marketable securities, of which 90% is located outside the United States for tax purposes.
Apple amassed 65% of all profits made by the eight largest worldwide smartphone manufacturers in quarter one of 2014, according to a report byCanaccord Genuity. In the first quarter of 2015, the company garnered 92% of all earnings.
On April 30, 2017,The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple hadcash reservesof $250 billion,officially confirmed by Apple as specifically $256.8 billion a few days later.
As of August 3, 2018, Apple was thelargest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization. On August 2, 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company to reach a $1 trillion market value,and as of June 2024, is valued at just over $3.2 trillion.Apple was ranked No. 4 on the 2018Fortune500 rankings of thelargest United States corporations by revenue.
In July 2022, Apple reported an 11% decline in Q3 profits compared to 2021. Its revenue in the same period rose 2% year-on-year to $83 billion, though this figure was also lower than in 2021, where the increase was at 36%. The general downturn is reportedly caused by the slowing global economy and supply chain disruptions in China.That year, Apple was one of thelargest corporate spendersonresearch and developmentworldwide, with R&D expenditure amounting to over $27 billion.
In May 2023, Apple reported a decline in its sales for the first quarter of 2023. Compared to that of 2022, revenue for 2023 fell by 3%. This is Apple's second consecutive quarter of sales decline. This fall is attributed to the slowing economy and consumers putting off purchases of iPads and computers due to increased pricing. However, iPhone sales held up with a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. According to Apple, demands for such devices were strong, particularly in Latin America and South Asia.
Apple has created subsidiaries in low-tax places such asIreland, theNetherlands,Luxembourg, and theBritish Virgin Islandsto cut the taxes it pays around the world. According toThe 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 PartyMember of ParliamentCharlie Elphickepublished 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 standardcorporate taxrates. He followed this research by calling on theChancellor of the ExchequerGeorge Osborneto force these multinationals, which also includedGoogleandThe 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.
According to aUS Senatereport on the company's offshore tax structure concluded in May 2013, Apple has held billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries to pay little or no taxes to any government by using an unusual global tax structure.The main subsidiary, a holding company that includes Apple's retail stores throughout Europe, has not paid any corporate income tax in the last five years. "Apple has exploited a difference between Irish and U.S. tax residency rules", the report said.On May 21, 2013, Apple CEOTim Cookdefended his company's tax tactics at a Senate hearing.
Apple says that it is the single largest taxpayer in the U.S., with aneffective tax rateof approximately of 26% as of Q2FY2016.In an interview with the German newspaperFAZin October 2017, Tim Cook stated that Apple was the biggest taxpayer worldwide.
In 2016, aftera two-year investigation, the European Commission claimed that Apple's use of a hybridDouble Irish tax arrangementconstituted "illegal state aid" from Ireland, and ordered Apple to pay 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) in unpaid taxes, the largest corporate tax fine in history. This was later annulled, after theEuropean General Courtruled that the commission had provided insufficient evidence.In 2018, Apple repatriated $285 billion to the United States, resulting in a $38 billion tax payment spread over the following eight years.
Apple is a partner ofProduct Red, a fundraising campaign forAIDScharity. In November 2014, Apple arranged for allApp Storerevenue in a two-week period to go to the fundraiser,generating more than US$20 million,and in March 2017, it released aniPhone 7with a red color finish.
Apple contributes financially to fundraisers in times of natural disasters. In November 2012, it donated $2.5 million to theAmerican Red Crossto aid relief efforts afterHurricane Sandy,and in 2017 it donated $5 million to relief efforts for bothHurricane IrmaandHurricane Harvey,and for the2017 Central Mexico earthquake.The company has used itsiTunesplatform to encourage donations in the wake of environmental disasters and humanitarian crises, such as the2010 Haiti earthquake,the2011 Japan earthquake,Typhoon Haiyanin the Philippines in November 2013,and the2015 European migrant crisis.Apple emphasizes that it does not incur any processing or other fees for iTunes donations, sending 100% of the payments directly to relief efforts, though it also acknowledges that the Red Cross does not receive any personal information on the users donating and that the payments may not be tax deductible.
On April 14, 2016, Apple and theWorld Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) announced that they have engaged in a partnership to, "help protect life on our planet". Apple released a special page in theiTunes App Store, Apps for Earth. In the arrangement, Apple has committed that through April 24, WWF will receive 100% of the proceeds from the applications participating in the App Store via both the purchases of any paid apps and the In-App Purchases. Apple and WWF's Apps for Earth campaign raised more than $8 million in total proceeds to support WWF's conservation work. WWF announced the results at WWDC 2016 in San Francisco.
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Apple's CEO Cook announced that the company will be donating "millions" of masks to health workers in the United States and Europe.On January 13, 2021, Apple announced a $100 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative to help combatinstitutional racismworldwide after the 2020murder of George Floyd.In June 2023, Apple announced doubling this and then distributed more than $200 million to support organizations focused on education, economic growth, and criminal justice. Half is philanthropic grants and half is centered on equity.
Apple Energy, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Apple Inc. that sellssolar energy. As of June 6, 2016, Apple's solar farms in California and Nevada have been declared to provide 217.9 megawatts of solar generation capacity.Apple has received regulatory approval to construct alandfill gas energy plantinNorth Carolinato use themethane emissionsto generate electricity.Apple's North Carolina data center is already powered entirely by 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".
Following aGreenpeaceprotest, Apple released a statement on April 17, 2012, committing to ending its use of coal and shifting to 100% renewable clean energy.By 2013, Apple was using100% renewable energyto power their data centers. Overall, 75% of the company's power came from clean renewable sources.
In May 2015, Greenpeace evaluated the state of the Green Internet and commended Apple on their environmental practices saying, "Apple's commitment to renewable energy has helped set a new bar for the industry, illustrating in very concrete terms that a 100% renewable Internet is within its reach, and providing several models of intervention for other companies that want to build a sustainable Internet."
As of 2016, Apple states that 100% of its U.S. operations run onrenewable energy, 100% of Apple'sdata centersrun on renewable energy and 93% of Apple's global operations run on renewable energy.However, the facilities are connected to the localgridwhich usually contains a mix of fossil and renewable sources, so Applecarbon offsetsits electricity use.TheElectronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool(EPEAT) allows consumers to see the effect a product has on the environment. Each product receives a Gold, Silver, or Bronze rank depending on its efficiency and sustainability. Every Appletablet,notebook,desktop computer, anddisplaythat EPEAT ranks achieves a Gold rating, the highest possible. Although Apple's data centers recycle water 35 times,the increased activity in retail, corporate and data centers also increase the amount of water use to 573 million US gal (2.2 million m) in 2015.
During an event on March 21, 2016, Apple provided a status update on its environmental initiative to be 100% renewable in all of its worldwide operations.Lisa P. Jackson, Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives who reports directly to CEO, Tim Cook, announced that as of March 2016, 93% of Apple's worldwide operations are powered with renewable energy. Also featured was the company's efforts to use sustainable paper in their product packaging; 99% of all paper used by Apple in the product packaging comes frompost-consumerrecycledpaper or sustainably managed forests, as the company continues its move to all paper packaging for all of its products.
Apple announced on August 16, 2016, that Lens Technology, one of its major suppliers in China, has committed to power all itsglass productionfor Apple with 100 percent renewable energy by 2018. The commitment is a large step in Apple's efforts to help manufacturers lower their carbon footprint in China.Apple also announced that all 14 of its final assembly sites in China are now compliant withUL's Zero Waste to Landfill validation. The standard, which started in January 2015, certifies that all manufacturing waste isreused,recycled,composted, or converted into energy (when necessary). Since the program began, nearly 140,000 metric tons of waste have been diverted fromlandfills.
On July 21, 2020, Apple announced its plan to becomecarbon neutralacross its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030. In the next 10 years, Apple will try to lower emissions with a series of innovative actions, including: low carbon product design, expanding energy efficiency, renewable energy, process and material innovations, and carbon removal.
In June 2024, theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) published a report about an electronic computer manufacturing facility leased by Apple in 2015 inSanta Clara, California, code named Aria.The EPA report stated that Apple was potentially in violation of federal regulations under theResource Conservation and Recovery Act(RCRA).According to a report fromBloombergin 2018, the facility is used to developmicroLEDscreens under the code name T159.The inspection found that Apple was potentially mistreating waste as only subject toCaliforniaregulations and that they had potentially miscalculated the effectiveness of Apple'sactivated carbonfilters, which filtervolatile organic compounds(VOCs) from the air. The EPA inspected the facility in August 2023 due to a tip from a former Apple employee who posted the report onX.
Following further campaigns by Greenpeace,in 2008, Apple became the first electronics manufacturer to eliminate allpolyvinyl chloride(PVC) andbrominated flame retardants(BFRs) in its complete product line.In June 2007, Apple began replacing thecold cathodefluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlitLCDdisplays in its computers withmercury-freeLED-backlit LCD displaysandarsenic-free glass, starting with the upgradedMacBook Pro.Apple offers comprehensive and transparent information about theCO2e,emissions, materials, andelectrical usageconcerning every product they currently produce or have sold in the past (and which they have enough data needed to produce the report), in their portfolio on their homepage. Allowing consumers to make informed purchasing decisions on the products they offer for sale.In June 2009, Apple'siPhone 3GSwas free of PVC, arsenic, and BFRs.Since 2009, all Apple products have mercury-free LED-backlit LCD displays, arsenic-free glass, and non-PVC cables.All Apple products have EPEAT Gold status and beat the latest Energy Star guidelines in each product's respective regulatory category.
In November 2011, Apple was featured in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics, which ranks electronics manufacturers on sustainability,climate and energypolicy, 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.Greenpeace praised Apple'ssustainability, noting that the company exceeded its 70% global recycling goal in 2010. Apple continues to score well on product ratings, with all of their products now being free of PVC plastic and BFRs. However, the guide criticized Apple on the Energy criteria for not seeking external verification of its greenhouse gas emissions data, and for not setting any targets to reduce emissions.In January 2012, Apple requested that its cable maker, Volex, begin producinghalogen-freeUSBand power cables.
In February 2016, Apple issued aUS$1.5billiongreen bond(climate bond), the first ever of its kind by a U.S. tech company. The green bond proceeds are dedicated to the financing of environmental projects.
Apple products were made in the United States in Apple-owned factories until the late 1990s; however, as a result ofoutsourcinginitiatives in the 2000s, almost all of its manufacturing is now handled abroad. According to a report byThe 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".
The company's manufacturing, procurement, and logistics enable it to execute massive product launches without having to maintain large, profit-sapping inventories. In 2011, Apple's profit margins were 40 percent, compared with between 10 and 20 percent for most other hardware companies. Cook's catchphrase to describe his focus on the company's operational arm is: "Nobody wants to buy sour milk."
In May 2017, the company announced a $1 billion funding project for "advanced manufacturing" in the United States,and subsequently invested $200 million inCorning Inc., a manufacturer of toughenedGorilla Glasstechnology used in Apple'siPhones.The following December, Apple's chief operating officer,Jeff Williams, toldCNBCthat the "$1 billion" amount was "absolutely not" the final limit on its spending, elaborating that "We're not thinking in terms of a fund limit... We're thinking about, where are the opportunities across the U.S. to help nurture companies that are making the advanced technology — and the advanced manufacturing that goes with that — that quite frankly is essential to our innovation."
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 thePCIbus in the7500/8500/9500Power Macs. Apple has since joined the industry standards groups to influence the future direction of technology standards such asUSB,AGP,HyperTransport,Wi-Fi,NVMe,PCIeand others in its products.FireWireis an Apple-originated standard that was widely adopted across the industry after it was standardized asIEEE 1394and is a legally mandated port in all cable TV boxes in the United States.
Apple has gradually expanded its efforts in getting its products into the Indian market. In July 2012, during a conference call with investors, CEOTim Cooksaid that he "[loves] India", but that Apple saw larger opportunities outside the region.India's requirement that 30% of products sold be manufactured in the country was described as "really adds cost to getting product to market".In May 2016, Apple opened an iOS app development center inBangaloreand a maps development office for 4,000 staff in Hyderabad.In March,The Wall Street Journalreported that Apple would begin manufacturing iPhone models in India "over the next two months",and in May, theJournalwrote that an Apple manufacturer had begun production of theiPhone SEin the country,while Apple toldCNBCthat the manufacturing was for a "small number" of units.In April 2019, Apple initiated manufacturing of the iPhone 7 at itsBengalurufacility, keeping in mind demand from local customers even as they seek more incentives from the government of India.At the beginning of 2020, Tim Cook announced that Apple schedules the opening of its first physical outlet in India for 2021, while an online store is to be launched by the end of the year.The opening of the Apple Store was postponed, and finally took place in April 2023,while the online store was launched in September 2020.
Apple directly employs 147,000 workers including 25,000 corporate employees inApple Parkand across Silicon Valley.The vast majority of its employees work at the over 500 retailApple Storesglobally.Apple relies on a larger, outsourced workforce for manufacturing, particularly in China where Apple directly employs 10,000 workers across its retail and corporate divisions. In addition, one further million workers are contracted by Apple's suppliers to assemble Apple products, includingFoxconnandPegatron.Zhengzhou Technology Parkalone employs 350,000 Chinese workers inZhengzhouto exclusively work on theiPhone.As of 2021, Apple uses hardware components from 43 different countries.The majority of assembling is done by Taiwaneseoriginal design manufacturerfirmsFoxconn,Pegatron,WistronandCompal Electronicsin factories primarily located insideChina,and, to a lesser extent, Foxconn plants inBrazil,andIndia.
Apple workers around the globe have been involved inorganizingsince the 1990s.Apple unions are made up of retail, corporate, and outsourced workers. Apple employees have joinedtrade unionsor formedworks councilsinAustralia,France,Germany,Italy,Japan,theUnited Kingdomand theUnited States.In 2021,Apple Together, asolidarity union, sought to bring together the company's global worker organizations.The majority of industriallabor disputes(including union recognition) involving Apple occur indirectly throughits suppliers and contractors, notablyFoxconnplants inChinaand, to a lesser extent, inBrazilandIndia.
In 2019, Apple was named as a defendant in aforced labourandchild slaverylawsuit by Congolese families of children injured and killed incobalt minesowned byGlencoreandZhejiang Huayou Cobalt, which supply battery materials to Apple and other companies.
In April 2024, lawyers representing theDemocratic Republic of the Congonotified Apple of evidence that Apple may be sourcing minerals from conflict areas of eastern Congo.Apple policies and documentation describe mitigation efforts againstconflict minerals, however the lawyers identify discrepancies in supplier reporting as well as aGlobal Witnessreport describing a lack of "meaningful mitigation" on Apple's part.In December 2024, DRC filed a lawsuit against Apple's European subsidiaries.