Were was apple founded

The History Of Apple

Apple has officially become the first $1 trillion company in history! It must come as no surprise as Apple continues to astonish the world with its innovative products and services.

The company had to go through years of struggle, various failures and accomplishments which finally led to the way it stands today – the first ever company to be valued $1 trillion.

Join us on this memory lane as we go back in time to explore the history of Apple from the days when Apple was limited to only a garage in California to the present when it is the most successful company in history.

The Foundation Of Apple

In 1976, Apple was founded by three men: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne with the intention of selling Wozniak’s hand-built Personal Computer named Apple 1.

The Apple 1 was sold as a motherboard with CPU, RAM and basic textual-video chips. It then lacked a built-in keyboard, monitor, case or any other Human Interface Devices (which was later added in 1977).

In July 1976, the Apple 1 went on sale and was sold for $666.66. Steve Wozniak took a special liking for repeated numbers and hence the fancy number as the price.

However, Ronald Wayne decided to leave the company only a couple of weeks after it was founded. Wayne then took a cheque of $800 which would have been worth almost $72 billion 40 years later. Wayne was the one to hand sketch the first Apple logo which was then replaced by the bitten apple logo designed by Rob Janoff in 1977.

The Apple Computer Inc. was incorporated on January 3 rd , 1977. Mike Markkula, the multimillionaire who had taken interest in the Apple-1 provided the company required funding and business expertise. Mike Markkula was the 3 rd employee with a one-third share in the company. He suggested a man named Michael Scott be the company’s first president and CEO as he thought Steve was too young and undisciplined to be the CEO.

The Apple II and III

It was in 1977 that the Apple II was introduced, also by Wozniak. VisiCalc (the world’s first ‘killer-app’), a ground-breaking spreadsheet and calculating software helped the Apple II computers to stand ahead of market leaders Tandy and Commodore PET. VisiCalc gave users an additional reason to buy the Apple II because of its office compatibility. With the introduction of colour graphics, the Apple II was able to revolutionize the computer industry.

By 1978, Apple had a real office with several employees and an Apple II production line.

In the years that followed, revenues grew exponentially for the Apple company doubling every four months. Their yearly sales grew from $775,000 to $118 million between September 1977 and September 1980 (average annual growth rate of 533%).

Jobs and several employees were allowed to visit the Xerox PARC lab in 1979. It is world famous for the laser printer, mouse, ethernet networking and other technological accomplishments. Jobs and his engineers visited the PARC campus in return for the option to buy 100,000 shares of apple for $10 a share.

By the year 1980, the competition was growing difficult with IBM and Microsoft in the market. Apple released Apple III in the same year to compete with these companies in the corporate computing market. The Apple III was not as successful due to a design flaw. In order to reduce noise, Jobs insisted computers not have fans or vents which in turn created problems due to dangerous overheating. Thus, the Apple III lost to IBM computers.

However, Jobs had been convinced from the visit to the Xerox PARC labs that all future computers required to use a Graphical User Interface (GUI) like the ones used today. He immediately began the development of a GUI for Apple’s next generation computer, Apple Lisa.

Unfortunately, Jobs was removed from the Lisa team due to infighting and became a part of the low-cost-computer project, the Macintosh. Lisa was released in 1983 and met with disastrous sales due to its high price and limited software support.

Apple went public on December 12, 1980, at $22 per share. According to EDN Network, Apple’s $4.6 million shares sold out immediately and generated more capital than any other IPO (Initial Public Offering) since the Ford Motor Company in 1956. The IPO created $217 million in wealth for Steve Jobs, the largest shareholder. The company’s IPO also created 300 other millionaires instantly.

The Macintosh

After being replaced from the Lisa team, Jobs became the lead of the Macintosh team. The Apple Macintosh is known as the most user-friendly computer to date. It is also known as the first mass-market personal computer to feature an integral GUI and mouse.

The Macintosh, unlike Lisa, was a success thanks to the intense marketing with the iconic “1984” commercial directed by Ridley Scott which aired during the Super Bowl and never again.

Even though the graphics hardware used was very expensive, Apple decided to sell the Macintosh for a price that would put it in the reach of home users. Its black and white graphics and visual abilities attracted design professionals and it was particularly successful in the desktop publishing market due to it’s the same. It had a carrying handle which made it portable and it looked friendly too.

The Macintosh was priced at $2,495 and went on sale in January 1984. It was good value for the money although not cheap. By the beginning of May 1984, 70,000 units were shipped as a result of the “1984” commercial.

In 1983, around the time of launch of the Macintosh, Jobs hired John Sculley as the new Apple CEO when Mark Markkula, the second CEO wanted to retire. Scully was the youngest CEO of Pepsi during the time, but jobs brought him to Apple with the legendary question “Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

However, tension grew between Jobs and Sculley when the Macintosh failed to break IBM’s dominance. Moreover, Jobs liked doing things his own way while Sculley wanted strict oversight on future products as both Lisa and the Macintosh had not been able to compete with IBM and others at the time.

Apple without Steve Jobs

In 1985, as friction grew between Jobs and Sculley, Jobs attempted to oust Sculley by staging a coup which then backfired. The Apple’s board took Sculley’s side and removed Jobs from his managerial duties. Jobs then quit his job and founded a new company making advanced workstations name NeXT. Steve Wozniak too left around the same time selling most of his shares saying the company was going in the wrong direction.

With Jobs now out of the company, the board was free to think what kind of machines Apple was going to produce. They decided to target high-end markets with more expensive Macs. Steve Jobs was opposed to the idea of hiking the prices and so it was only after he left that they could implement this policy. They agreed that although fewer units may be sold, similar or higher profits are to be achieved. This policy was called “55 or die” which is Jean-Louis Gassée’s rule that the Macintosh II should deliver at least 55% profit per machine. Gassée was the man whom Sculley hired in place of Steve Jobs.

Although the Apple computers were quite expensive compared to the other computers in the market, they had benefits such as the user interface that kept their users loyal. Apple introduced its PowerBook laptop and system 7 operating system in 1991. The system 7 was behind giving colour to the Macintosh OS and was used until 2001 when OS X was released.

The 1990s saw Apple trying to get into new markets. Gassée also took part in the development of new products such as the Newton MessagePad and the eMate dreaming that these products will drive the company towards new heights.

However, with prices as high as $700 and functions limited to taking notes and managing contacts these new products did not work out in the market. And the Newton MessagePad became the Apple flop of the 1990s. Gassee’s tenure too came to an end in 1990. Apple then introduced the Macintosh Classic, Macintosh LC and Macintosh IIsi, which were lower cost models and they also managed to bring up significant sales.

The Decline of Apple

Apple’s “55 or die” policy backfired in the last years of the decade when IBM clones were getting cheaper and Microsoft’s influence started to rise. Even though Macs offered an excellent library of software, they were limited. Windows 3.0, on the contrary, was on sale for cheap commodity computers.

Apple needed to find its way back in the market and so they introduced a whole new line of computers: the Quadra, Centris and the Performa. The Performa was meant to be a stock item for department stores and other lifestyle outlets as Apple computers were then available only through mail or authorized dealers. There was no Apple Store back then. These lines of computers were, in fact, their existing stock rebranded by adding new consumer-friendly software like ClarisWorks and Grolier Encyclopaedia to attract home users.

This, on the contrary, created confusion among the customers as they did not quite understand the difference between these models.

Apple also experimented on products like digital cameras, portable CD audio players, speakers, TV appliances etc, but they were all unsuccessful. Apple’s market shares and stock prices continued to decline.

To add to the mistakes, Sculley spent a lot of time and cash on bringing System 7 to the new IBM/ Motorola PowerPC microprocessor instead of Intel Processor. As most software were written for Intel processors, and they were cheaper, Apple had no luck finding its way back in the market.

With the highly unsuccessful line of products and the costly decision to move to PowerPC, the Apple board had had enough. In 1993 Sculley was fired and replaced by Michael Spindler as the new CEO, a German expatriate who had been with Apple since the 1980s.

Spindler, unfortunately, had to follow through Sculley’s PowerPC mistake. The first PowerPC run by Macintosh was released in 1994 but Apple’s misfortune continued. One reason was because of the popularity of Windows in the market then.

In 1996, Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Amelio made several changes such as including extensive layoffs and cut costs. His tenure was also troubled as the Apple stock hit a 12-year low. Amelio then decided to purchase Jobs’ NeXT Computer for $429 million in February of 1997 and brought back Steve Jobs to Apple.

Rise To Profits

Jobs convinced the board to make him the interim CEO in July 1997. Due to the huge financial losses and a three-year record low stock price the board agreed with Jobs. Amelio resigned a week later.

During the 1997 Macworld Expo, Jobs announced Apple was joining hands with Microsoft to create new versions of Microsoft for the Macintosh. He also announced that Microsoft had invested $150 million in non-voting Apple stock. On November 10, 1997, Apple introduced the Online Apple Store.

Jobs was impressed by the design talent of Jonathan Ive and they paired to rebuild Apple’s status. The iMac was introduced on August 15, 1998, an all in one computer. Jonathan Ive lead the iMac design team and he would later design the iPod and the iPhone. 80,000 units of the iMac were sold in just 5 months as a result of modern technological features and a unique design.

Jobs did not want a wide range of products and preferred to concentrate on a narrow range of products. He reduced the range of computers to four- two for businesses and two for consumers. He also closed down a lot of other divisions including the Newton MessagePad.

In 1998, Apple purchased Macromedia’s Key Grip Software Project, thus expanding its video editing market. The product was named Final Cut Pro when it was launched in April 1999. It was unfinished even at the time of its sales. Key Grip Software’s development led to Apple’s release of the video editing product called iMovie in October 1999.

The Mac OS X was introduced in place of System 7 in 2001 which was based on the operating system from NeXT computers. In the same year, the iPod portable digital audio player was released, and it sold 100 million units within six years.

Following this, Apple acquired German company Astarte and Apple created iDVD for the consumer market using Astarte’s DVD authoring technology. Apple purchased two companies in 2002 – Nothing Real for digital composing application and Emagic for music productivity application Logic. Apple became the first computer manufacturer to own a music company after purchasing Emagic.

Apple’s iTunes music store was introduced in 2003 and the service offered online music downloads for $0.99 per song and also integrated it to the iPod. iTunes became the world’s largest music retailer by 2005.

In 2006, Apple finally decided to switch to an Intel-based system architecture. The MacBook Pro was the Apple’s first laptop with an intel core processor.

Between 2003 and 2006 the Apple’s stock price increased by more than ten times, from $6 per share to $80 per share.

The iPhone

The iPhone was announced at the Macworld Expo on January 9, 2007. Jobs also announced that Apple Computer, Inc would thereafter be called Apple Inc. as the company had widened its emphasis to consumer electronics as well. 270,000 iPhones were sold during the first 30 hours of its sales and it came out to be known as a “game-changer for the industry”. Widespread success was achieved with the introduction of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad products.

The App Store was launched by Apple in July 2008 to sell third-party applications for the iPhone and iPod-Touch. Within a month, 60 million applications were sold through the App store and it was able to register an average daily revenue of $1 million. Apple also became the third-largest mobile handset supplier in the world thanks to the popularity of the iPhone.

Apple shares hit a staggering $300 in October 2010.

Steve Jobs resigned from his position as CEO due to health factors on August 24, 2011, and was replaced by Tim Cook. Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011, which marked the end of an incredible era for Apple and brought a big diversion in Apple’s history.

However, Apple still continues to influence the markets with ground-breaking technological wonders to date.

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How and When Apple Was Founded: Steve Jobs, Wozniak and Ronald Wayne

Today Apple is undoubtedly one of the most important multinationals in the world, both for its market volume and for its market value. All tech giants have a beginning that at times may not be the most glamorous as Apple did. In this article we tell you

Steve Wozniak, the computer genius

To talk about how Apple was founded, you certainly have to start with the childhood of one of its founders: Steve Wozniak. Woz’s wizard, as he liked to be called, was born in 1950 with a knack for computing. At an early age he created a machine that allowed adding and subtracting. This may seem relatively straightforward today, but in 1950 computing and how to create intelligent machines were still being explored. His studies took place at Barkeley where he studied computing.

Wozniak was dedicated to designing different circuits on paper and then trying to put them into practice. This was undoubtedly the great trigger to bring his knowledge to other minds, such as his neighbor Bill Fernández . Both Wozniak and Bill tried to create a first personal computer between the two that ended up being a real disaster. This inconvenience caused Steve Jobs and Wozniak to meet in 1971 in order to start working together on a new personal computer. Steve Jobs was no electronic scholar, Wozniak himself being the one who taught him everything he knew by actually starting to work on what would be the Apple Lisa I.

It is important to note that Steve Jobs was only 15 years old at the time, but he already showed leadership and ambition attitudes that were combined with Wozniak’s great idea: creating a personal computer. The first work they did together was blue boxes that allowed long distance phone calls to be made at no cost. This product was sold for $ 150 each, with the proceeds being divided between Wozniak and Jobs. Although this may seem somewhat insignificant, this was undoubtedly the beginning of Apple by showing the projects that the two founders of the company could carry out.

The first inspiration for Jobs and Wozniak

The fact of making a personal and functional computer is something that at first surpassed the two geniuses. The failure of the first Wozniak-designed prototype did not set a good precedent, but technology was advancing rapidly. Attendance at Homebrew Computer Club meetings and the launch of the new Atair 8800 and IMSAI microcomputers inspired Wozniak to create his own computer. The problem that arose was the high price of the components to design the product. That is why for several months he limited himself to making designs on paper until a CPU could be allowed to bring it to reality. It was MOS Technology that launched the 6502 processor in 1976 for a price of $ 20. Although he had in his designs focused on the 6800 processor, he was able to make the appropriate changes to adapt to the new chip.

It was on March 1, 1976 when Steve Wozniak completed the design of the computer. To receive feedback from the rest of his colleagues, he decided to send it to the Homebrew Computer Club, a group of electronics enthusiasts that met in Menlo Park. This team was essential to be able to make important advances in the world of computing by being open to sharing ideas among all members.

The ambition of Steve Jobs, unleash the initial success

Where Wozniak saw in his plans a perfect machine to turn into a personal computer, Jobs saw an incredible business idea. This was the moment where the abilities of both founders were combined to be able to create a company from scratch with a project that was on paper. Initially, Wozniak’s goodwill made him think of showing his project for free to all the big companies of the time. This is something that Jobs obviously did not want, offering the possibility of selling only totally naked motherboards in the beginning. In parallel Steve Wozniak traveled to Hewlett Packard (HP) to show his plans. The result he obtained was five negative, as he did not find the meaning of this personal computer.

Finally, thanks to the insistence that Steve Jobs put, Wozniak agreed to do business together in order to create a new company.

The seed funding problem

The beginnings of Apple were quite humble since none of the founders had the money to begin their journey. That is why they had to start selling all the valuables they had to get enough money. This was used to start creating the printed circuit boards proposed by Steve Jobs in the beginning.

The original funding was less than $ 1,000. These came after Jobs’s Volkswagen Type 2 van sold for about $ 300 and Wozniak’s HP-65 programmable calculator for $ 500. With this initial investment, it was possible to start the production and sale of the first printed circuit boards that would allow the necessary financing to be obtained to produce and design the Apple I, the company’s first personal computer.

Steve Jobs’ garage: the origin of everything?

It has always been thought that the founding of Apple was made in Steve Jobs’ garage in the house located at 2066 Crist Drive in Los Altos (California). Although, this is a simple myth since Wozniak himself stated in different interviews that neither designs, nor tests nor prototypes were made in the garage. Apparently it only served as a home for the founders of the company, not having much money for it. Although the biography of Steve Jobs details that it was at this address that many of the interviews with companies were carried out to sell their ideas, taking effect.

Recreation of Steve Jobs’ garage (not true to life) from the movie Jobs

In this house, the founding agreement of Apple was also officially signed on April 1, 1976. It was signed by three people: Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and also the ‘unknown’ Ronald Wayne. This date is where the company began to function as a commercial company. Importantly, Ronald Wayne left the company 12 days after it was founded in exchange for $ 800. This decision was motivated by the bad experiences he had had in the past as an entrepreneur.

Origin of ‘Apple Computer’

In the agreement that all parties signed, the company was called Apple Computer. According to Steve Wozniak, it was Jobs himself who came up with this name after returning from Robert Friedland’s All-One farm in Oregon. As he reflected on this farm, he was doing one of his typical frugivorous diets and the thought of that name came to mind that it was fun, upbeat and not intimidating. Other major factors that favored the choice of this new one was the competition with Atari. By choosing ‘Apple Computer’ in the telephone directory, they would come out first in the face of agreements with other companies. It is interesting to see how the ambition and desire to succeed that Steve Jobs had at that time is so present in the name.

Apple startup problems

As we have said before, Wozniak received numerous negatives when he went with his project to different leading technology companies such as HP. The main problem that arose was the price of the components at that time, making it very difficult to produce and market due to the high existing risk. When you start with a new product, it is not known exactly whether it will end up catching on with users. Companies cannot afford such a high level of risk when making an investment, because if it goes wrong it would be money lost.

The second problem that arises is that at that time it was not conceived that there was a computer in homes. It was normally used for business rather than domestic use, but Wozniak argued that a personal computer could be implemented in homes. In the end it has been seen that not having a computer at home is something that is not conceived, but at that time the uses were not found. That is why up to 5 refusals were received at HP and that forced Steve Jobs to seek financing elsewhere. If they did not get this financing, they should continue to sell bare plates, which was not the objective they had set.

Apple’s first big deal

Once Steve Wozniak had perfected what would be the company’s first personal computer, the Apple I, they again traveled to the Homebrew Computer Club. It was here that they caught the attention of Paul Terrell, head of the computer store Byte Shop. He was so impressed that he offered his cards to both founders and stated that they would be in touch. But Jobs was not a person to wait for deals, and the next day he went to the Byte Shop in Mountain View so he could sell Terrell the circuit boards they were making. But he did not make it easy for him as he asked that the computers be fully assembled, and that there be a total of 50 units. In exchange, he would pay her $ 500 each. The problem that arose in this case is that they did not have the money to pay for the components of the Apple I.

In order to get the financing Steve Jobs went to see a credit manager. When they saw the project and the large figures he was claiming, they were not going to grant him the loan, but thanks to the purchase order and the promise to return it in 30 days. Although it was somewhat risky, he ended up convincing the lender and granted him the loan he was requesting. The problem is that building so many teams is that there were few people and a lot of work ahead. They spent night and day working to be able to fulfill the delivery and in the end they finished manufacturing the assembled circuit factories. Terrell was surprised as he did not expect the deadline to be met but was met with an unpleasant surprise. It was expected that the plates would be accompanied by a screen, keyboard and housing but they were bare. Similarly, the agreement was fulfilled and Terrell made the promised payment.

Apple I launch and success

In July 1976 the Apple I was officially launched with a price of $ 666.66. The truth is that this figure is quite peculiar, but according to Wozniak they decided on it since he loves the repetition of numbers. Sales reached 200 units thanks to characteristics that differentiated it from other computers. For example, a television could be connected as a display medium displaying 60 characters per second. Wozniak designed a cassette player as an accessory to be able to upload and download information at a speed of 1200 bits per second. This computer was considered a work of art in computing, since it hardly used parts, although the functions it could perform were very simple if you look at the current context. Without a doubt, Steve Wozniak established himself as one of the best engineers thanks to his creativity and ingenuity when developing new equipment. From here Wozniak focused solely on the creation of the Apple II while Steve Jobs sought financing and was the visible face of the company.

That is why to this day we remember and have in mind the person of Jobs at the head of Apple much more deeply rooted. In the end, he was a true visionary who knew how to move the masses and convince whoever was necessary, such as a lender, to offer him financing for his project as we have commented previously.

Apple’s real takeoff

Obviously the company that was starting could not settle for loans and specific orders. Jobs aspired to the high ground and began looking for major investments. There were many investors who spoke with Jobs like Don Valentine but most closed the door to them because they did not see enough security behind the business. It was finally the millionaire Mike Markkula who saw great potential in Apple Computer and that is why he became the company’s first investor. He initially offered the two Steve a line of credit of $ 250,000. Obviously in return this investor received 33% of the company to be able to participate in decision-making

Finally, the corporation that was created with this investor bought Apple Computer, which was only 9 months old. In February 1977, the first president and CEO of Apple, Michael Scott, was appointed since neither Steve Jobs nor Wozniak had the necessary experience to lead the company. Eventually both founders took their project very seriously, Wozniak resigning from his position at HP to work full time at Apple. From here they continued to design new computers that came out over the years, Apple continued to consolidate itself as a leading company in technology and innovation.

Goal accomplished: the legacy of the founders is fulfilled

More than 40 years after the founding of Apple, the company continues to grow like never before. The good foundations that both Steve Jobs and Wozniak built have made the company worth more than a trillion dollars right now. Of the first 200 personal computers that were sold, they now number in the millions. This undoubtedly is an indication that the work that began several years ago, despite the stones in the way, has culminated in success. It is always interesting to know how a billion dollar company started from scratch with two teenagers drawing pictures on paper. And there are still many years ahead for this company that faithfully meets the objectives set at the beginning.

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