multinational
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multinational state, a sovereign state that comprises two or more nat ...
technology company
A technology company (or tech company) is an electronics
Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum and matter. It uses active devices to contr ...
headquartered in Cupertino, California
Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose, California, San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The p ...
, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics
Electronics comprises the physics, engineering, technology and applications that deal with the emission, flow and control of electrons in vacuum ...
, computer software
Software is a collection of instructions
Instruction or instructions may refer to:
Computing
* Instruction, one operation of a processor within a computer architecture instruction set
* Computer program, a collection of instructions
Music
* I ...
, and online services
An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider (music, movies), a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, an ...
. It is considered one of the Big FiveBig Five may refer to:
Animals
* the Big five game, Big Five, large African wild animals said to be most difficult to hunt: lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and Cape buffalo
* Big Five animals of the Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India: Ind ...
companies in the U.S. information technology industry, along with Amazon
Amazon usually refers to:
* Amazons
In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαζόνες ''Amazónes'', singular Ἀμαζών ''Amazōn'') are portrayed in a number of ancient Greek, ancient epic poems and legends, such as the ...
, Google
Google LLC is an American multinational
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multinational stat ...
, Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporation, a corporate organization operating in multiple countries
* Multinational force, a military body from multiple countries
* Multination ...
, and Facebook
Facebook is an American online social media and social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, an ...
. Its hardware
Hardware may refer to:
Technology Computing and electronics
* Computer hardware, physical parts of a computer
* Digital electronics, electronics that operate on digital signals
* Electronic component, device in an electronic system used to affect e ...
products include iPhone
{{Infobox information appliance
, name = iPhone
, logo =
, image =
, caption = The front face of an iPhone 13 Pro
The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the flagship smart ...
smartphones, iPad
iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., which run the iOS and iPadOS mobile operating systems. The iPad (1st generation), first iPad was released on April 3, 2010; the most recent iPad models ar ...
tablet computers, personal computers, 
iPod
The iPod is a line of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Classic#1st generation, first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version ...
portable media players, Apple Watch
Apple Watch is a line of es produced by It incorporates , , and , and integrates with and other Apple products and services.
The Apple Watch was released in April 2015 and quickly became the best-selling : 4.2 million were sold in the second ...
smartwatches, Apple TV
Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole that is developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple. It is a small networking hardware, network appliance hardware that plays received media datas such as video and audio to a television set o ...
digital media players, AirPods
AirPods
AirPods are wireless Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using Ultra high frequency, UHF radio waves in the ISM band, ...
wireless earbuds, AirPods Max
AirPods Max are wireless Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using Ultra high frequency, UHF radio waves in the ISM band, ISM bands, ...
headphones, and the HomePod
HomePod is a smart speaker developed by Apple Inc. The HomePod was designed to work with the Apple Music subscription service. It was sold until it was discontinued on March 12, 2021, in favor of the smaller HomePod Mini.
The HomePod was announc ...
smart speaker line. Apple's software includes the iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone and iPod Touch; the t ...
, iPadOS
iPadOS is a mobile operating system
A mobile operating system is an operating system for mobile phones, tablet computer, tablets, smartwatches, 2-in-1 PCs, Smart speaker, smart speakers, or other Mobile device, mobile devices. While computers ...
, macOS
macOS (; previously Mac OS X and later OS X) is a Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for ...
, watchOS
watchOS is the operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, computer software, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operatin ...
, and tvOS
tvOS (formerly Apple TV Software) is an developed by for the 2nd generation and later . It is based on the operating system and has many similar frameworks, technologies, and concepts.
The Apple TV Software for the 2nd and 3rd generation A ...
operating systems, the iTunes
iTunes () is a , media library, broadcaster, management utility, and the client app for the , developed by It is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital multimedia, on personal computers running the and operating systems, ...
media player, the Safari
A safari (; ) is an overland journey to or (in more recent times) observe , especially in or . The so-called animals of Africa – , , , , and – particularly form an important part of the safari market, both for and .
Etymology
The ...
web browser, the Shazam
Shazam may refer to:
Comic book franchise
* Captain Marvel (DC Comics), also known as Shazam, a superhero character published by Fawcett Comics and DC Comics
* Shazam (wizard), a wizard character from the ''Shazam!/Captain Marvel'' comics who give ...
music identifier, and the iLife
iLife is a discontinued software suite for macOS and iOS developed by Apple, Inc., Apple Inc. It consists of various programs for media creation, organization, editing and publishing. At various times, it included: iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, ...
and iWork
iWork is an office suite
Productivity software (also called personal productivity software or office productivity software) is application software used for producing information (such as documents, presentations, worksheets, databases, charts, I ...
creativity and productivity suites, as well as professional applications like Final Cut Pro X
Final Cut Pro, previously Final Cut Pro X, is professional Non-linear editing system, non-linear video editing software published by Apple Inc. as part of their Pro Apps family of software programs. It was released on June 21, 2011 for sale in the ...
, Logic Pro
Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation
set-up
A digital audio workstation (DAW) is an electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files. DAWs come in a wide variety of configurations from ...
, and Xcode
Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment#REDIRECT Integrated development environment
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... (IDE) for macOS
macOS (; previously Mac OS X and later OS ...
. Its online services include the iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media
Digital media means any media (communication), media that are encoded in Machine-readable data, machine-readable formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, ...
, the iOS App Store
The App Store is a digital distribution platform, developed and maintained by Apple Inc., for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download apps developed with Apple's iOS Software Developmen ...
, Mac App Store
The App Store (also known as the Mac App Store) is a digital distribution
Digital distribution (also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution (ESD), among others) is the delivery or distributio ...
, Apple Arcade
Apple Arcade is a video game Subscription business model, subscription service offered by Apple Inc. It is available through a dedicated tab of the Apple App Store, App Store on devices running iOS 13, TvOS, tvOS 13, iPadOS 13, and macOS Catali ...
, Apple Music
Apple Music is a music and video streaming
Streaming media is multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that combines different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single presentation, in con ...
, Apple TV+
Apple TV+ is an advertisement, ad-free subscription video on demand streaming television service of Apple Inc. that debuted on November 1, 2019. It was announced during their list of Apple Inc. media events#Apple Special Event (March 25, 2019), ...
, Apple Fitness+, iMessage
iMessage is an instant messaging service developed by Apple Inc. and launched in 2011. iMessage functions exclusively on Apple platforms: macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS.
Core features of iMessage, available on all supported platforms, include ...
, and iCloud
iCloud is a Cloud storage service, cloud storage and cloud computing service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011. As of 2018, the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016.
iCloud enables users to s ...
. Other services include Apple Store
Apple Store is a chain of retail storesThe retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that ...
s, the Genius Bar
The Genius Bar is a free service provided by Apple Inc
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, soft ...
, AppleCare
AppleCare+ is Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated ...
, Apple Pay
Apple Pay is a mobile payment
Mobile payment (also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer, and mobile wallet) generally refer to payment services operated under financial regulation and performed from or via a mobile device. Instea ...
, Apple Cash, and Apple Card
Apple Card is a credit card created by Apple Inc. and issued by Goldman Sachs, designed primarily to be used with Apple Pay on Apple devices such as an iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Macintosh, Mac. As of 25 April 2021, it is only available in the ...
.
Apple was founded by Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (; February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American business magnate
A business magnate is someone who has achieved great success and enormous wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term ch ...
, Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary Wozniak (; born August 11, 1950), also known by his nickname "Woz", is an American electronics engineer
Image:Silego clock generator.JPG, Printed circuit board
Electronic engineering (also called electronics and communications e ...
, and Ronald Wayne
Ronald Wayne (born May 17, 1934) is a retired American electronics industry businessman. He co-founded Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational
Multinational may refer to:
* Multinational corporatio ...
in April 1976 to develop and sell Wozniak's Apple I
The Apple Computer 1, originally released as the Apple Computer and known later as the Apple I, or Apple-1, is a desktop computer released by the Apple Computer Company (now Apple Inc.) in 1976. It was designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. T ...
personal computer, though Wayne sold his share back to Jobs and Wozniak within 12 days. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc., in January 1977, and sales of its computers, including the Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as apple ] '') is an 8-bit home computer">8-bit.html" ;"title="'') is an 8-bit">'') is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primari ...
, grew quickly.
Jobs and Wozniak hired a staff of computer designers and had a production line starting in Jobs' garage. Apple initial public offering, went public in 1980 to instant financial success. Over the next few years, Apple shipped new computers featuring innovative graphical user interface
The graphical user interface (GUI "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ) is a form of user interface
In the industrial design
Industrial design is a process of design
A design is a plan or specification for the construction ...
s, such as the original Macintosh in 1984, and Apple's marketing advertisements for its products received widespread critical acclaim. However, the high price of its products and limited application library caused problems, as did power struggles between executives. In 1985, Wozniak departed Apple amicably and remained an honorary employee, while Jobs resigned to found NeXT
NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company that specialized in computer workstations
A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or computational science, scientific appli ...
, taking some Apple co-workers with him.
As the market for personal computers expanded and evolved through the 1990s, Apple lost considerable market share to the lower-priced duopoly of Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows, commonly referred to as Windows, is a group of several proprietary
{{Short pages monitor
Apple Inc.,
1976 establishments in California
1980s initial public offerings
American brands
Companies based in Cupertino, California
Companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average
Companies in the PRISM network
Companies listed on NASDAQ
Computer companies established in 1976
Computer companies of the United States
Display technology companies
Electronics companies of the United States
Home computer hardware companies
Mobile phone manufacturers
Multinational companies headquartered in the United States
Networking hardware companies
Portable audio player manufacturers
Retail companies of the United States
Software companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Software companies established in 1976
Steve Jobs
Technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area
Technology companies established in 1976
Technology companies of the United States