Good Apple Invention (Story About The Company) Essay Example

Introduction: Apple became the world’s biggest computer company in 2012, reaching $546 billion market capitalization more than the market value of the renowned leader, Exxon Mobil. While Apple remains silent about its new products, the existing line up is now facing a stiff competition. This paper aims to explain to the readers about Apple Company’s contribution to advanced technology, a brief story about the company, and its current status in the market. Thesis: Is Apple Company still the leader in personal computer industry? No, Apple is no longer the leader in personal computers.
Basis of its decline in business – As the saying goes, “no one stays on top forever.” It’s now the turn of Samsung to lead almost all categories in the smartphone business. One major problem that confronts Apple is the continuous pressure to lower the price of its products in order to compete with the low-cost Android devices now flooding the market. Today, Apple’s market capitalization has fallen to $399 billion as compared to Exxon's $403 billion. A lot of industry spectators believe that there are sufficient grounds to consider that Apple may never be regarded again as the world's most valuable company. Some of the reasons include Apple's inability to completely satisfy consumer demand. Another reason is the uncertainty on whether its iWatch and Apple TV will boost the company’s business.
Why “Apple” was chosen as name of the company – It was Jobs who thought of naming the company Apple after visiting a friend who owned a farm in 1976. He probably got this idea as he was working in an apple farm, or he felt good working in front of Atari in the phone book. Another angle is that he probably wanted to pay tribute to Apple Records being the music label of the Beatles. But all these are just speculations and wherever he got the idea, Wozniak had a strange feeling that they would get into trouble with Apple Records. He was right because in 1989, Apple Records sued Apple Computer for trademark infringement. However, the company name remained the same despite the filing of a case in court, and it became one of the most popular names in electronics.
Amazing start of Apple computer business – The original makers of Apple are Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak who were both college dropouts. They started it out in a garage owned by Jobs on April 1, 1976, and sold their product barely without a keyboard, monitor, or casing. Even in high school, Wozniak was already fascinated by computers, and this is the reason why he decided to drop out from the engineering course at University of California, Berkeley in favor of working with Hewlett-Packard (HP). During that time, Hewlett-Packard was only engaged in making minicomputers and calculators. Wozniak joined a local club named the Homebrew Computing Club located in Menlo Park, California. Fortunately, that became his first exposure to minicomputers. He was only 26 years old then, and in 1976, he created a BASIC programming language which he used for new microprocessor. Then, he gave copies to his friends at Homebrew, and he helped them to make their own designs. On the other hand, Steve Jobs was only 21 then, and was working for Atari, Inc. He had also a keen interest in computers just like Wozniak. After working on a few electronic projects together, they crafted one major project in the form of a video game called Breakout intended for Atari. When Jobs saw Wozniak’s ability to create microprocessors, he urged him to sell them in the market. Both of them started everything from very minimal funds; selling something to get started, with Jobs selling his Volkswagen van, and Wozniak selling his programmable calculator. With the total amount of $1,350 dollars they earned from selling, they started producing Apple I boards. They named their first computer creation - Apple I, and they purchased its parts from a local electronic part store. It’s here where they were able to establish credit which was necessary to operate their business. Their first sale came from a computer retail store which ordered 50 Apple I computers. When Apple II launched the first color graphics, sales increased from $7.8 million during 1978 to $117 million during 1980. Jobs and Wozniak had a dream of changing the way consumers look at computers. They wanted to create computers that were small enough so that people can use them anywhere in their homes, and bring them outside particularly in their offices. In short, they had in mind an image of a computer that was user-friendly. However, in 1983, Wozniak decided to leave Apple after losing interest in its day-to-day operations. His position was taken over by John Sculley of Pepsi Company, but it didn’t take long, and after having a controversy with Sculley, Steve Jobs left the company in 1985, and explored new and bigger business ventures. He became the founder of NeXT Software, and decided to purchase Pixar from George Lucas. This new venture became a huge success in the computer animation industry.
Apple’s peak of success – Up to 1980s, Apple was performing well, and declared its highest yield in profit during 1990. But this was mostly credited to Jobs because before he left the company, he had already set all plans in motion. His negotiations with a tiny company named Adobe, contributed much in the success of Apple during that time. The two companies worked together to create the phenomenal desktop publishing. In 1985, Bill Gates of Microsoft appealed to Sculley to license its software, but Sculley turned it down. This decision became a big mistake for Sculley because Microsoft became its strongest competition in 1980s. Microsoft launched its Windows operating system (OS) featuring a graphical interface which was similar to Apple's.
Moves to counter difficulties in business – After its peak in 1990, Apple's market share declined slowly, and by 1996, industry experts forecasted that the company would be doomed. However, the prediction didn’t happen until 1997, when Apple needed an operating system very badly, that it sought the help of an old friend, Steve Jobs. Soon, Jobs became an interim CEO, or iCEO, but his official appointment became effective in 2000. That was the time that Jobs introduced some changes in Apple. He decided to work with Microsoft in creating a Mac version of its office software.
Achievements of Apple – When Apple was back in the hands of Jobs as interim CEO, he made a revamp in computers and launched the iBook which was a personal laptop. That was the time when mp3 players or iPod along with media player software or iTunes conquered the market that was all attributed to Jobs' initiative. While computer was an integral part of Apple, its iPod and iTunes became the company's top profit maker. Recently, Apple released the iPhone, the Apple TV, and a cellular phone. Even if Steve Jobs had died, Apple continues to enjoy his legacy. Apple Inc. has achieved its pioneering spirit in the computer industry several times, and the company follows the principle of breaking the limits of creativity geared toward producing valuable and interesting products for the consumers. After staying in the market for more than 30 years, there’s no doubt that Apple has contributed much in the advancement of technology. It has successfully done its part to innovate and influence not only how people use computers, but also the activities that they want their computers to do.
Interesting Facts about Apple - From the garage that they used to do business during their first year of operation, Apple Computer moved to a better room in Cupertino. Wozniak reveals that he had a burning desire to own a computer in his youth, and achieving it was a big thing in his life. Soon, he realized that making microprocessors was not expensive at all, so, he made one for himself. On the other hand, Jobs had a more brilliant idea of creating a product that he could actually sell, and used by someone. At this point, Apple I was born that allowed other specialists to organize their stuff and create their own programs. One interesting part in Steve Jobs' achievements is that his own company, NeXT, made NeXT Cube which was too expensive to manufacture and therefore not commercially successful. But in the end, that product became the first web server in the world.
Conclusion: In response to the thesis, Apple Company used to be the leader in personal computing industry in the 1990s, but its business continuously declined and now, it’s no longer the leader in the market. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 2000, the company was in a very bad shape, and it was difficult for him to recover what was lost. When he died, the more the company could not continue with the expert legacies of Jobs, and create new ones. It has only to maintain what he has left for the company to survive its business. With a lot of Android products being sold at low prices, the company is hard up in maintaining its market value and competing with other companies. It still faces a dim future because the two new products it has introduced in the market are not both hitting the expected mark. Its iPhone may have survived the competition in smartphones, but its Apple TV is still facing a grim market. Although it has slashed its prices on iPhones, it’s not that it reduced the prices on its flagship, but it’s merely offering inexpensive models of phones.