Apple Inc.

Introduction

Apple Incorporated (Apple); a well-known brand name, is recognized as a leader in today’s electronics industry. Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded this multinational corporation in 1976. It’s currently headquartered in Cupertino, California, and upholds a focus in designing and selling consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. Apple is presently acknowledged for its most popular products such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad, MacBook, and iMac. Furthermore, they have also astounded the industry by releasing software such as the Operating System Ten (OS X), and developing the highly popular iTunes media application; which recently reached a sales milestone of 25 billion songs downloaded (Kleinman, 2013). According to CNBC’s All-American Economic Survey, half of all U.S. households own at least one Apple product; meaning over 55 million homes contain, as a minimum, one Apple merchandise (Gralnick, 2012). Its success thus far can be accredited to its variety of popular top-selling products as well as its innovative strategies. Within this report we will discuss Apple’s background then use different analyses to deduce a recommendation for potential investors.

Company Background

Apple’s unique history began in 1976 when Steve Jobs, a 21-year-old college dropout, and his two acquaintances Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, started collaborating ideas within Jobs’ parents’ garage. Since then, this corporation has largely expanded and developed many well established competitors such as Google and Microsoft. Currently Apple’s Chief Executive Officer is Tim Cook, and the company includes nine other Senior Vice Presidents who focus on specific departments within the company. According to Daily Finance, Apple’s top three institutional shareholders are Fidelity Management & Research, Vangaurd Group Incorporated, and State Street Global Advisors. However, “Fidelity’s ownership of Apple has declined from 4.8% to 3.2%...