History of Apple Inc: Steve Jobs story

How Apple started the strategy it used the struggles it had to overcome and if you read until the end you'll learn what the future holds for this tech giant.  

THE BIG PICTURE

Apple recently celebrated its 43rd anniversary as company as of June 2019 Apple is recorded as the second most valuable brand in the world sitting above giants like Google and Microsoft headquartered in California this two hundred and 5.5 billion dollar company delivers approximately 265 billion dollars in revenue annually as a technology company with more than 132,000 employees throughout its 506 retail stores in 24 countries worldwide Apple proves they are here to dominate the tech industry but let's take a look at how Apple got to take its place as king.


The beginning

The birth of Apple began in the mid 1970s as an assembled circuit board called Apple one invented by co-founder Steve Wozniak the Apple one didn't have a keyboard or a monitor not even a case it was just a circuit board Steve Wozniak was an Albanian inventor born in 1950 it was while working at Hewlett Packard designing calculators that he met Steve Jobs Jobs was five years younger than Wozniak at the time while working for the arcade game company Atari in the 1970s Atari gave Steve Jobs the assignment of creating a circuit board for one of their video games jobs having limited knowledge and experience of circuit boards made a deal with Wozniak to share the pay if he could design the circuit board though Wozniak designed the circuit board it wasn't accepted by Atari the same invention that would later lead him to the Apple one just two years later Wozniak designed developed and tested his first prototype by 1976 the Apple one was complete he first offered it to hewlett-packard while he worked there however HP denied him on several occasions it was Steve Jobs idea to sell the Apple one themselves they sold most of their belongings and assembled the first Apple one boards at Steve Jobs his house they sold the Apple one for 666 dollars and their first 50 system boards were sold to a new computer shop called the byte shop in California Apple computers now called Apple Inc was founded that same year.


The Struggle

During this time computers took up entire rooms and were only used by large companies being pioneers in the industry of personal computing Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak had all the ideas but one thing they lacked was money though they had an order for 50 system boards with a byte shop they didn't have the resources to fulfill the order they were both turned down by banks and Atari where Jobs worked and wanted payment for any components they sold to him in the end the bike shop agreed to give Jobs and Wozniak the parts on credit not out of the woods yet Steve Jobs convinced Intel executive and multi-millionaire Mike Markkula to invest two hundred and fifty thousand dollars into Apple in the late 70s over the next three years Apple saw incredible growth as sales grew approximately 118 million dollars however during that time other companies began to emerge IBM launched its own personal computers and took full advantage when Apple was facing losses due to the lack of interest in their apples the apple also faced a lot of in-house issues as Wozniak decided to leave Apple in the 80s he was simply no longer interested in running Apple computers Steve Jobs then brought on John Sculley to be President however due to tension over the drop in sales Jobs wanted Scully removed but the board supported Scully and was Steve Jobs that was removed from his position Scully was made an offer by Microsoft founder Bill Gates to license its software but declined unbeknownst to him at the time Microsoft would go on to become Apple's largest and toughest competitor in the 80s and 90s though Steve Jobs was no longer at Apple he had already put things in motion before he left he made a deal with a small company by the name of Adobe and together they donned the era of desktop publishing.


Strategy

Apple knew that innovation would keep them afloat and what they needed was an operating system their first course of action was buying out next software which was the company Steve Jobs founded after being removed from Apple Jobs became the interim CEO and immediately began implementing his plans to revitalize Apple one of his first acts was forming an alliance with Microsoft to create a version of their Office suite software for Apple this would help them to retain their current customers, as well as gain those that previously didn't use Apple because it lacked the popular Microsoft software then under his new, think differently  campaign Steve Jobs launched the iMac in 1998 its unique design and use of modern technology made it a favorite and Apple sold approximately 800,000 units in five months not long after that he reimagined the personal computer and introduced the iBook the first Apple personal laptop taking the computer from being stationary to being mobile three years later Apple launched their iPod a digital music player freeing up customers from portable cassettes and CD players giving them the capacity of taking more music with them as the slogan at the time said 1000 songs in your pocket there was definitely no signs of slowing down for Steve Jobs in 2007 he showed the world the shift Apple was making in the direction of consumer electronics even further by launching the iPhone with phenomenal success. 


The defining moment

Though Apple saw early moments of glory with its colorful graphics and its collaboration with VisiCalc and Adobe Apple's defining moment was the return of Steve Jobs and its alliance with Microsoft nothing says greatness quite like the first personal computer company joining forces with the first software company in the world. 


The Value

It's undeniable that Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world their vision and innovation really do set them apart from the rest let's look at how they've maintained their title and earned such loyalty from their customers when you think about Apple the main person that comes to mind is Steve Jobs we believe that everyone would agree that Steve Jobs was synonymous with the brand and just as famous even after his passing you think of Steve Jobs before Tim Cook's their current CEO Steve Jobs took an active role in marketing and was the driving force behind its products after he died most people expected Apple would succumb to major losses but their success continued since the seventies Apple continues to launch innovative yet modern and stylish looking products that always come with a new assortment of upgrades if you've ever watched any of Apple's presentations whether it's an update for an operating system new colors or a camera feature Apple always presented them with excitement news from Apple became something you didn't want to miss we've already touched an apple redirecting some of its focus to consumer electronics and their ability to have a fluid business plan it's one of the reasons they're so successful Apple is constantly studying the market and adjusting to meet the customers needs in fact that's the reason they expanded into offering a wider range of products beyond computers to tablets, watches, mp3 players, and digital virtual assistants . Apple's goal is to keep reinventing and it's not that the technology doesn't already exist customers simply believe Apple does it better Apple has also made shopping for their products and experience at their 506 branded retail stores worldwide Apple believe that traditional retail stores would not provide the experience they wanted to inspire brand loyalty among their consumers.


The results
 

Apple will recognize that to be competitive in this industry they needed to ensure they stayed ahead forming partnerships and in some instances acquiring companies gave them that advantage one such partnership was the aim alliance in the 1990s which was formed by Apple IBM and Motorola to create a new platform which would use IBM and Motorola Hardware with Apple software later that year they launched the power Macintosh which carried the Motorola PowerPC processor after many flopped products failed attempts to upgrade the Mac OS and weeks away from bankruptcy one of their notable acquisitions was next for their next step operating system this also led to the return of Steve Jobs Apple proceeded to build a portfolio of digital production applications through companies they would acquire companies such as macro media, a start, spruce technologies, Sound Jam MP. Nothing real and imagined was among the first to be assimilated into Apple's powerhouse of technology what Apple has shown us is that to execute a great vision requires great leadership and that's not something that everyone is capable of. 


The future
 

Apple is known for staying two years ahead of its competition the products released today were approved two years ago and upon their release it's highly likely that the plans for the next model are already in the works Tim Cook shared at Apple's annual meeting there's a long great roadmap of fantastic products on the horizon though he was not specific about the products there has been talks about augmented reality smart glasses and about Apple venturing into the world of self-driving cars one thing is for certain though is that Apple has begun developing its services category there have been improvements to Apple music the App Store and they may be launching a new streaming TV service with original television series Netflix may have something to worry about especially as consumers who subscribe to Netflix through their iPhone or iPad app 30% goes to Apple every month for a year situations such as these are key factors in Apple's growth it's clear that Apple's long term profitability is due to control and not allowing their products to be standardized however unless Apple creates the next iMac or iPhone recreating some of their historical profits may be quite a task specially with a trade war between the US and China that trade war threatens Apple through tariffs on its parts and products manufactured in China as well as from China's slowing economy which makes the appeal of a pricey smartphone less attractive as of 2018 Apple recorded its highest annual revenue at approximately 4$265.6 billion about 218 billion was generated by iPhone sales almost 82% of the company's total global revenue. 


Closing
 

Apple has been a pioneer in the computer industry on several occasions throughout history it believes in innovation and removing any boundaries that limit creativity to produce valuable products for its consumers after 43 years it is undeniable that Apple has provided immeasurable value and made an impact on technology influencing how we use it in our daily lives so far Apple remains the king of luxury tech. In the world of Apple its products do come with a price but if you have an extra 127 thousand dollars you can get their iPhone in 18 karat gold courtesy of one of London's luxury product makers gold Genie but why stop there why not go ahead and add some diamonds but take note you will need to pay half as a deposit when you pre-order.  


The controversy
 

You would think that Apple had been through enough having to deal with their in-house issues, unfortunately, more controversy followed Apple's been under scrutiny for allegedly collaborating with the US surveillance program prism they were one of the first companies named for being part of the program but they have continued to deny any involvement and stated they do not provide any government agency direct access to their servers within the last six years Apple has been penalized for its tax practices as well it's been said to use a special double Irish agreement to reduce taxes and did not pay taxes for five years as a benefit of their deal with the Irish government the European Union has since ordered Apple to pay a fine of $14.5 billion.


So, guys, I meet you with my next blog and you have any suggestions for me tell me in the comment section.



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