Apple

Apple (IPA: [ˈæp(ə)l], Apple) is an American corporation that develops personal and tablet computers, audio players, smartphones, software, and digital content. It is headquartered in Cupertino, California. Almost all of Apple's products are manufactured by contract manufacturers at factories in Asia, the largest contractor is the Taiwanese company Foxconn, and the largest plant is in Zhengzhou.

One of the pioneers in the field of personal computers and modern multitasking operating systems with a graphical user interface. More than half of the company's sales come from iPhones, with about 900 million such smartphones in use worldwide in 2021. The largest market for the company is the United States, and China, Japan and a number of European countries also have a significant share in revenue.

In August 2018, Apple became the first U.S. company to surpass $1 trillion in market capitalization and the most valuable public company ever, surpassing the previous record holder, PetroChina ($1.005 trillion in November 2007). On June 30, 2023, Apple became the first company in the world to reach a market capitalization of $3 trillion.

In 2022, Apple was ranked third on the list of the largest companies in the United States, Fortune 500. In the Forbes Global 2000 list of the world's largest companies, Apple was ranked 7th.

The name of the company comes from the English word "apple", and the image of an apple is also used in the logo.

Until January 9, 2007, the official name of the corporation was Apple Computer, Inc. for more than 30 years. The rejection of the word "Computer" in the name demonstrates a change in the main focus of the corporation from its traditional market of computer equipment to the market of consumer electronics.

Jobs suggested the name Apple because the company's phone number was in the phone book right before Atari.
Macintosh, an apple variety sold in the United States, is the favorite apple variety of Jeff Ruskin, who was the manager and developer of the Macintosh project before Steve Jobs took over the position.

HISTORY 

1970s
The company was founded in California by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne, and Steve Wozniak, who built their first personal computer based on the MOS Technology 6502 processor in the mid-1970s. After selling 200 of these computers to local enthusiasts for $666 each, the young entrepreneurs received funding and officially incorporated Apple Computer, Inc. on April 1, 1976. At the end of 1976, Mike Markkula bought a third of the company's stock for $250,000 and became its chairman; his experience at Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor took the company to the next level, with sales exceeding $1 million in 1977.

The Apple I, released in 1976, was not the first programmable microcomputer. The right of primacy belonged to the Altair 8800 microcomputer, which was created by Ed Roberts and distributed through catalogs in 1974-1975. However, the Altair was not a "personal computer", as it did not provide the ability to solve more or less serious problems with its help.

In 1976 and 1977, several companies produced the first personal computers, including thousands of computers from Commodore and RadioShack since 1977. But the first mass-produced personal computer, with millions of copies produced, was the Apple II. From 1977 to 1993, Apple produced various models in the line of 8-bit (later 8/16-bit) Apple II computers. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Apple II and its clones were the world's most widely used personal computers. More than 5 million Apple II computers have been sold worldwide. The success of the model was greatly aided by the introduction in 1978 of the Disk II floppy drive for 5-inch floppy disks, the fastest and cheapest floppy disk drive at the time, as well as the development of the spreadsheet program VisiCalc, which gave the computer important practical applications.

1980s
In December 1980, the company held its largest initial public offering (since Ford went public in 1956), with 4.6 million shares sold at $22 per share in a matter of minutes. Also in 1980, the Apple III computer was launched, but it was flawed and soon had to be suspended and discontinued in 1984. In March 1981, Wozniak was involved in a plane crash and temporarily left his job. Problems with the sales of the Apple III led to Jobs having to lay off 40 employees. However, these problems were compensated for by the release of new programs, the opening of offices in Europe, and the launch of its first hard drive; In 1982, the company became the first personal computer manufacturer to reach revenues of $1 billion. In early 1983, the Apple Lisa computer was introduced to the market, the first with a computer mouse and graphical interface, but its sales did not meet expectations. Unable to cope with the problems that arose, Jobs hired John Sculley, who had previously been president of PepsiCo, to serve as CEO of the company in April 1983.

In January 1984, Apple first introduced a new 32-bit Macintosh computer, which had all the benefits of the Lisa but cost significantly less ($2,495). Later on, the production of computers of this series became the main business of the company, by 1988 more than a million of them had been sold, mainly as office equipment. For two decades, the company produced Macintosh computers based on Motorola processors, equipped with the company's operating system. This platform is produced only by Apple - for a short time in the mid-1990s, management decided to grant licenses for the production of Mac-compatible computers, but later the licenses were revoked. In 1985, U.S. President Ronald Reagan awarded Jobs and Wozniak medals for the advancement of technological progress. In the same year, Steve Jobs decided to fire Scully, but it turned out that he had to leave the company; Jobs later founded a new computer company, NeXT. Also in 1985, the company began production of its own laser printers, which, in combination with the PageMaker program, allowed the computer to be used as a desktop print shop. By the end of the 1980s, Apple's revenues exceeded $4 billion and employed 14,600 people, and the company had managed to significantly displace IBM as a supplier of computer equipment to corporations.

1990s-2000s
In the early 1990s, Apple introduced the Macintosh Classic and Macintosh LC, a lightweight computer aimed at a wide range of consumers. Their success increased the company's share of the U.S. personal computer market to 19 percent by 1992, but it required cost cuts: about 10 percent of workers were laid off, and factories were enlarged or moved to regions with cheaper labor. In 1991, the company introduced its first laptop, the PowerBook series, which quickly gained a 20 percent market share. In 1992, the company lost a lawsuit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard for copyright infringement (copying elements of the operating system).

Between 1994 and 1996, the company launched three models of QuickTake 100, 150 and 200 color cameras with a 640×480 sensor and 24-bit color. It was one of the first modern digital cameras, but it was not further developed by Apple.

In 1993, Scully was dismissed, but it was not easy to find a worthy replacement for him. His replacement, Michael Spindler, made several serious mistakes, including licensing the company's technology, overestimating demand for laptops, and underestimating customer interest in the Power Macintosh, leaving the company with $1 billion in unfulfilled orders for 1995. Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio in 1996. He began by cutting one-third of his staff, but the losses continued to mount, totaling $1.86 billion in 1996 and 1997. The stock price fell from $70 in 1991 to $14 in 1996, and its share of the computer market fell to 4%. In December 1996, Apple bought NeXT for $377 million, and in 1997, Steve Jobs again took a key position at Apple. Among his first actions were the termination of licensing agreements, the reduction of the range of products at the expense of computer peripherals (scanners, printers, organizers, etc.), and the closure of several factories. In 1998, the new iMac was introduced to the market. Although Apple's revenue declined from $11.5 billion in 1995 to $5.8 billion in 1998, the company began to turn a profit, with its stock price jumping to $99 in 1999.

In 2001, the company introduced the iPod audio player, which quickly gained popularity. Also this year, a new generation of macOS operating systems was launched. In 2003, the company opened the iTunes Store, a popular online supermarket for digital audio, video, and gaming media. Since 2005, the company has been using Intel processors in its products. In 2006, a new line of MacBook Pro laptops was launched.

And in 2007, it entered the mobile phone market with the touchscreen smartphone iPhone. Also this year, sales of the Apple TV media player began. In 2008, the App Store was launched.

2010s
In 2010, the iPad tablet was launched.

The production of iPods, iPhones and iPads, which were in high demand around the world, dramatically improved Apple's financial position, bringing the company record profits. In August 2011, Apple became the world's most valuable company by market capitalization for the first time, surpassing the oil company ExxonMobil, until the end of the year they changed places more than once, but since January 2012, Apple has managed to gain a foothold in the first place for a long time. In August 2012, it became the most valuable company in history, breaking Microsoft's record set in December 1999, at the peak of the so-called dot-com bubble, and on September 21, 2012, Apple shares reached their maximum of $705.07 during trading, with a capitalization of $662.09 billion. From its peak in September 2012 to January 2013, Apple's market share has shrunk by 37.6%, allowing ExxonMobil to once again compete with it for the top spot as the world's most valuable public company. On November 13, 2014, Apple broke its record again, with a market cap of $663.43 billion.

In 2013, Apple was the first to mass-produce 64-bit ARM-based chips with the release of the 64-bit dual-core Apple A7 microprocessor.

In 2014, the corporation introduced its first personal, wearable device, the Apple Watch.

In 2016, at the annual WWDC-2016 conference, Apple announced that the brand's devices would work on the principle of end-to-end encryption: information would be encoded on the device that transmits it, and decoded by the receiving gadget. This is planned to be used when making voice calls, as well as on the new messenger.

At the end of August 2016, the European Commission fined Apple a record €13 billion for violating competition rules in the European Union. "We looked at what revenue from Apple's international sales goes to Ireland and what taxes it is levied there. That is the crux of the matter. In a broader sense, it is about ensuring fair competition, and this has nothing to do with politics. This is in line with the treaty, and we have such obligations under the contract," said European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.

In April 2018, Apple designed and built a special robot called Daisy to solve the problem of efficient recycling, which allows you to recover valuable components from old phones that can be reused for a second time. The Daisy robot is capable of disassembling nine different iPhone models at speeds of up to 200 phones per hour.

On December 13, 2018, Apple announced major investment plans. Apple Inc. intends to significantly increase operations in Austin, Texas, and will spend $1 billion to build a campus in that city.

On March 18, 2019, the company announced the new iPad Air and iPad mini, which will support the first-generation Apple Pencil stylus. The next day, March 19, 2019, Apple introduced a new line of iMac models for the first time in 2 years. And on March 20, 2019, the company presented the 2nd generation of AirPods headphones with wireless charging.

On March 25, 2019, Apple introduced a number of new online services: the Apple TV+ video streaming service, the Apple Arcade gaming service, and the Apple News+ magazine and news reader, which will be available with a paid subscription. At the same presentation, the company unveiled the Apple Card, a virtual bank card, which is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2019, but it will only work in the United States.

On July 26, 2019, Apple announced that it was buying Intel's modem division for $1 billion.

On December 2, 2019, it was reported that Apple had established its own music award, the Apple Music Awards.

2020s
On April 15, 2020, the company released the second-generation iPhone SE, which is similar to the design of the iPhone 8: it has Touch ID and a 4.7-inch screen. The new device was powered by the A13 Bionic processor.

In June 2020, at WWDC, CEO Tim Cook announced that he had begun migrating all of his Macs previously powered by Intel x86 chips to his own Apple silicon ARM chips.

On September 15, 2020, the company released Apple Fitness+, a digital service for Apple users, a fitness service with workouts and music for a monthly subscription. On the same day, the company introduced the HomePod mini, a smart speaker with Siri assistant, and Apple also introduced the sixth generation of the Apple Watch and Apple Watch SE.

On October 13, 2020, the company unveiled the new iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The new iPhones feature a new design with flat edges, a design element reminiscent of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 5S, and it's the first major redesign since the iPhone X. All new devices released are equipped with the A14 Bionic. The iPhone 12 Mini has a 5.4-inch display. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are better than the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini in terms of display, telephoto lens, and LiDAR scanner. The iPhone 12 Pro Max has the largest display in the history of the iPhone to date, a 6.7-inch screen. The four new iPhones also come with a ceramic tempered front glass, while the back retains the previous generation's dual ion-exchange reinforced glass. This generation of iPhone also removed both the included headphones and the power adapter from the box, citing environmental benefits.

In November 2020, Apple announced the Self Service Repair program, which will allow customers to access genuine Apple parts to perform self-repair repairs.

In February 2022, it became known that the company was starting a trial run of the iPhone 14 in order to detect problems before mass production. In May 2022, Apple announced that it would discontinue production of the iPod.

In November 2022, it became known that due to protests at Foxconn's largest iPhone factory, the company may not receive 6 million iPhone Pros. According to Bloomberg data for 2022, Apple has doubled its smartphone exports from India. According to the agency, the company exported $2.5 billion worth of iPhones in 2022.

In March 2023, the company launched the Apple Pay Later installment payment service in a limited mode for some US users. The service is expected to be available to the public within a few months.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Over the years, Apple has repeatedly acquired various companies operating in the IT market. Among the largest such deals are the purchase of NeXT (1996, for $430 million), P.A. Semi (April 2008, $280 million), Quattro Wireless (January 2010, $274 million), Siri (April 2010, $200 million), Anobit Technologies (January 2012, $400-500 million), Beats Electronics (May 2014, for $3 billion), and others.

Owners & Management

Apple is a public company and its shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. In August 2011, Apple became the world's most valuable company by market capitalization, with $338.8 billion as of August 10. As of February 9, 2012, Apple's market share has reached $456 billion, which exceeds the combined value of its closest competitors Apple, Google, and Microsoft combined. As of August 2018, Apple was the leader by market capitalization with $1 trillion, although at the beginning of 2016 it briefly lost the lead to Alphabet Inc, Google's parent company.

At the beginning of 2023, the company issued 15.8 billion shares, of which 58.5% belonged to institutional investors. The largest of these were The Vanguard Group, Inc. (8.0%), BlackRock Inc. (6.4%), Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (5.7%), State Street Global Advisors, Inc. (3.7%), FMR LLC (2.2%), Geode Capital Management, LLC (1.8%), T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (1.4%), Morgan Stanley (1.2%), and Northern Trust Investments, N.A. (1.1%).

Activity

The company sells some of its products through its network of Apple Stores (more than 400 in total) in the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and other countries. It also sells various products (not only its own products) through its online stores (Apple Store (online), iTunes Store and App Store), which in 2013 brought the company about $18.3 billion, which put Apple in second place after Amazon.com among Internet retailers.

The company's revenue for the 2021/22 financial year was $394.3 billion, of which 38% came from direct sales to end consumers. Expenditures on components and assembly by contract manufacturers amounted to $71.1 billion, for research and development (R&D) — $26.3 billion. At the end of the year, $19.3 billion in taxes were paid ($5.6 billion in U.S. federal tax, $1.6 billion in California tax, and $12.1 billion in other countries).

The company's main product, the iPhone, as of 2021 held 14% of the global smartphone and mobile phone market (slightly behind Samsung), the largest market share was in Japan (70%), also dominated in the United States (56%); the average cost of an iPhone was $750-$800. The iOS operating system used in these smartphones accounted for 27.5% of the mobile operating system market, compared to 72% for Android.

Contract manufacturers are engaged in the manufacture of products for Apple, the largest of which are Taiwanese companies Foxconn, Wistron, Pegatron and Compal Electronics; production facilities are located mainly in China

Criticism

Energy consumption
On April 21, 2011, Greenpeace published a report highlighting the fact that data centers consume up to 2% of the world's electricity, and this amount is projected to increase. Greenpeace's Phil Radford said that "we are concerned that this new explosion in electricity consumption could trap us in a system of old, polluting energy sources instead of the clean energy available today." On April 17, 2012, following Greenpeace's protest against Apple, the corporation issued a statement announcing that it was ending its use of coal and moving to 100% clean energy. In 2013, Apple announced that it was using 100% renewable energy to power its data centers, and overall, 75% of the power comes from renewable sources.

In 2010, Climate Counts, a non-profit organization dedicated to directing consumers toward green companies, gave Apple a score of 52 out of 100, placing Apple in their top "On the Way" category. This was a leap forward from May 2008, when Climate Counts gave Apple only an 11 out of 100, placing the company in last place among electronics companies, after which Climate Counts also gave Apple the "slow-witted label", adding that Apple at the time had "a chance to dodge consumers worried about climate change".

On April 9, 2018, Apple stated that it only uses renewable energy. Apple has also made commitments to renewable energy from nine new device partners: Arkema, DSM Engineering Plastics, ECCO Leather, Finisar, Luxshare-ICT, Pegatron, Quadrant (which manufactures magnetic parts for devices), Quanta Computer, and Taiyo Ink Mfg. Co.

Toxic waste
Greenpeace has launched a campaign against Apple due to various environmental issues, such as non-recyclable hardware components and toxic substances in the iPhone. Since 2003, Greenpeace has campaigned against Apple's use of specific chemicals in its products, including the inclusion of PVC and brominated additives. On May 2, 2007, Steve Jobs published a report announcing his plans to eliminate PVC and brominated additives by the end of 2008. Apple has since eliminated PVC and brominated additives from its products, becoming the first laptop manufacturer to do so. In the first edition of Greenpeace's Green Electronics Guide, released in August 2006, Apple received only 2.7/10.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ranks Apple highly among laptop manufacturers, and gives the company good marks compared to other desktop and LCD manufacturers.

In June 2007, Apple updated the MacBook Pro by replacing the cold-cathode fluorescent lamps in the backlight of LCD displays with LEDs and arsenic-free glass, and has since done so for all laptops. Apple has also eliminated brominated additives and PVC in various internal components. Apple offers information about emissions, materials, and electricity consumption for each product.

In June 2009, the iPhone 3GS was free of PVC, arsenic, brominated additives, and had an efficient power adapter. In October 2009, Apple updated the iMac and MacBook, replacing cold-cathode fluorescent lamps in LCD backlights with mercury-free LEDs and arsenic-free glass. This means that all Apple computers have mercury-free LED-backlit displays, arsenic-free glass, and PVC-free cables. All Apple computers are Gold certified by EPEAT.

In October 2011, Chinese authorities ordered Apple's suppliers to shut down part of their Suzhou plant after local residents discovered significant environmental problems. In June 2012, Apple withdrew its products from EPEAT,[104] but reversed this decision in July.

Working Conditions
In 2006, the Mail on Sunday reported on working conditions at factories in China where subcontractors Foxconn and Inventec produced iPods. The article states that in one complex of factories where iPods are assembled (among other products), more than 200,000 workers lived and worked in the factory and worked more than 60 hours a week. The article also reported that workers receive about $100 per month and are required to pay the company for rent and food, which in total is just over half of workers' earnings.

Apple immediately began investigating and working with its manufacturers to ensure acceptable working conditions. In 2007, Apple began an annual audit of all its suppliers for workers' rights, slowly raising standards and weeding out non-compliant suppliers. Annual progress reports have been published since 2008. In 2010, workers in China decided to sue iPhone contractors for poisoning with a cleaner used to clean LCD screens. One worker claimed that he and his colleagues had not been informed of possible occupational diseases. After a wave of suicides at Foxconn's factories in China, where iPads and iPhones are assembled, workers were forced to sign a legally binding document guaranteeing that they would not kill themselves.

In 2011, Apple admitted that its suppliers in China were using child labor. Workers in factories that make Apple products are exposed to n-hexane, a neurotoxin that is a cheaper substitute for ethyl to purify products. In 2013, China Labor Watch found violations of the law and Apple's promises regarding working conditions at facilities owned by Pegatron, including discrimination against ethnic minorities and women, withholding workers' wages, excessive working hours, poor living conditions, safety and health issues, and environmental pollution.

Taxes

To reduce the taxes the company pays around the world, Apple has set up subsidiaries in low-tax locations such as Ireland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the British Virgin Islands. According to the New York Times, Apple was one of the first tech companies to start selling on other continents on behalf of subsidiaries, circumventing income taxes. In the late 1980s, Apple pioneered an accounting technique known as "Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich", which lowered taxes by channeling profits through Irish subsidiaries to the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean.

Charlie Elphicke, a member of the British Conservative Party, published a study on October 30, 2012, which shows that some multinational companies, including Apple, made billions of pounds in profits in the UK, but paid only 3 percent of the effective tax rate to the UK Treasury, which is well below the standard income tax. In publishing the study, Elphicke called on Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne to force multinationals including Google and the Coca-Cola Company to report the effective tax rate they pay on their UK income. Elphicke also advised that government contracts should be denied to multinationals that do not pay their fair share to the UK.

Apple and Patents
As of October 16, 2012, the company has received 5,440 patents, including 4,480 inventions (seven-digit number) and 914 design projects (with a letter D and six digits in the number).

Lawsuits Against Apple
In 2009, Nokia accused Apple of infringing on 10 patents that cover voice encoding, secure data protocols, and a number of other inventions used in the iPhone since the first version of the device was introduced. As a result, Apple was found guilty of infringing these patents, receiving an order to pay compensation to Nokia, as well as further royalties. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

At the end of 2011, a German court found infringement of Motorola Mobility's wireless data patent, ordering Apple to pay compensation for 4 years, as well as confirming Motorola's right to demand the removal of patented technology from Apple devices.

In August 2015, a court ruling was issued stating that the company's A7 processor infringes a University of Wisconsin patent. The court ordered Apple to pay $862 million in moral damages.

In 2020, Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Apple for violating antitrust laws, in particular, restricting the ability to purchase games and programs from other manufacturers on the Apple Store platform. In September 2021, the U.S. District Court of Northern California ruled in favor of Apple