Marketing

Introduction

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. They created the company to sell a hand-made computer (Apple I) that was created by Steve Wozniak. The computer was first introduced to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. Famous members of the club include Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The computer was sold for $666 dollars at that time. That amount is equivalent to $2500 today (after adjusting for market inflation).

In 1977, Apple was incorporated hence becoming Apple Inc. On April 16 of that year, Apple II was introduced. Soon after being released to the market it went on to become the most sought after computer of that time.

By the end of the 70’s Apple’s staff had grown by the numbers and it had its own production line. In December 1980 Apple Inc. went public generating more capital than any other IPO. During the first half of the 80’s Apple saw a great amount of success. Then came darker days for Apple where its products didn’t meet the expectations of the consumers. They went onto release the Macintosh which initially sold well but sales soon declined because of its high price and limited number of software available for that platform. During this time there was a major power struggle within the company. The board of directors of the company felt that the Macintosh was a failure. This resulted in Steve Jobs leaving the company.

In 1991 Apple introduced the PowerBook. Soon after it’s released it became the next big thing and Apple’s revenues started soaring. During mid-nineties Apple went on to reinvent its image and their products. They bought the company NeXT and its NeXTSTEP operating system. Ironically NeXT was the company founded by Steve Jobs after he left Apple. After the purchase Steve Jobs became an advisor to Apple, and later the CEO.

The second reign of Steve Jobs was like a whole new era for the company. The NeXTSTEP operating system became the famous Mac OSX and a whole new line of...