Apple inc

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Revision as of 13:23, 1 March 2007

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL, LSE: ACP, FWB: APC) is an American consumer electronics corporation with worldwide annual sales in its fiscal year 2006 (ending September 30, 2006) of US$19.3 billion.[3] Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple develops, sells, and supports a series of personal computers, portable media players, computer software, and computer hardware accessories. The company's best-known products include the Macintosh line of personal computers, its Mac OS X operating system, and the iPod line of portable media players. For the iPod and its related iTunes software Apple sells audiobooks, games, music, music videos, TV shows,[4] and movies in its online iTunes Store. Apple has also recently announced that they will market a smartphone, to be called the iPhone.

The company was known as Apple Computer, Inc. for its first 30 years of existence, but dropped "Computer" from its corporate name on January 9, 2007.[5] The name change, which followed Apple's announcement of its new iPhone smartphone and Apple TV digital video systems, is representative of the company's ongoing transition into the consumer electronics market in addition to its traditional focus on personal computers.[6]

Apple operates over 170 retail stores in the United States, Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom. Apple has confirmed a store in Sydney, Australia.[7] The stores carry most of Apple's products as well as many third-party products and offer on-site support and repair for Apple hardware and software. In January 2007 plans for Apple's first retail store in Australia leaked following the DA approval of plans for a 3-storey outlet on 367 George St in Sydney's CBD; for which Apple began advertising positions in February. The company has over 20,000 permanent and temporary employees worldwide, some of which staff the retail stores, and other who design the products.[8]

For a variety of reasons, ranging from its philosophy of comprehensive aesthetic design to its countercultural, even indie roots as a company that differentiates itself from the rest of the industry by “thinking different,” Apple has cultivated a customer base that is unusually devoted to the company and its brand.=

History

The Apple II microcomputer, introduced in 1977, was a hit with home users. In 1983, Apple introduced the Lisa, the first commercial personal computer to employ a graphical user interface (GUI), which was influenced in part by the Xerox Alto. Lisa was also the first personal computer to have the mouse. In 1984, the Macintosh was introduced, furthering the concept of a user-friendly graphical user interface. Apple's success with the Macintosh became a major influence in the development of graphical interfaces elsewhere, with major computer operating systems such as Commodore Amiga, and Atari ST, appearing on the market within two years of the introduction of the Macintosh.

In 1991, Apple introduced the PowerBook line of portable computers. The 1990s also saw Apple's market share fall as competition from Microsoft Windows and the comparatively inexpensive IBM PC compatible computers that would eventually dominate the market. In the 2000s, Apple expanded its focus on software to include professional and prosumer video, music, and photo production solutions, with a view to promoting their products as a "digital hub". It also introduced the iPod, the most popular digital music player in the world.

Current Products

Apple introduced the Apple Macintosh family in 1984 and today makes consumer, professional, and educational computers. The Mac mini is the company's consumer sub-desktop computer, introduced in January 2005 and designed to motivate Windows users to switch to the Macintosh platform. The iMac is a consumer desktop computer that was first introduced by Apple in 1998, and its popularity helped save the company. The iMac is similar in concept to the original Macintosh in that the monitor and computer are housed in a single unit. It is now in its third major design iteration, and has been upgraded by times (including a switch to Intel processors) using the same design. The Power Mac brand was replaced in 2006 with the Mac Pro, featuring two 64-bit dual-core Xeon "Woodcrest" processors, available in speeds of 2, 2.66 and 3 GHz. The Mac Pro is capable of supporting up to 4 x 750GB HDD's for a total of 3 terabytes of internal hard disk space and has 8 DIMM slots for up to 16GB of RAM. On its promotional website, Apple says that the "Mac Pro not only completes the Mac transition to Intel processors but delivers advanced performance, workstation graphics, and up to 4.9 million possible configurations." Apple's server range includes the Xserve, a dual core, dual processor 1U server, and the Xserve RAID for server storage options.

Apple introduced the iBook consumer portable computer as a companion to the iMac; it is Apple's lowest-cost portable computer. The iBook brand was replaced on May 16, 2006 with the MacBook featuring the Intel Core Duo processor, 13 inch widescreen, and available black color on the high-end model. The MacBook Pro is the professional portable computer alternative to the MacBook. The MacBook Pro is marketed as being intended for professional and creative users and replaced the PowerBook models, which was introduced in 1991.

In 2001, Apple introduced the iPod digital music player and currently sells the iPod (with video), available in 30 and 80 GB models; the iPod nano, available in 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB models; and the iPod shuffle, available in a 1 GB model. Apple also re-released the U2 Special Edition iPod in a 30 GB capacity on June 6, 2006 with a distinctive all black enclosure, a red clickwheel, and engraved band members autographs on the back. On July 13, 2006, Apple teamed up with Nike to introduce the Nike+iPod Sports Kit enabling runners to sync and monitor their runs with iTunes and the Nike+ website.

At the Macworld Conference & Expo in January 2007, Steve Jobs revealed the long anticipated iPhone, a convergence of an Internet-enabled smartphone and video iPod. The iPhone combines a 2.5G quad band GSM and EDGE cellular phone with features found in hand held devices, running a scaled-down versions of Apple's Mac OS X, with various applications such as Safari Web browser, email and navigation. The initial iPhone features a 3.5 inch touch screen display, Bluetooth, WiFi (both "b" "g" and the newest "n") and comes in 4 GB and 8 GB models. The iPhone is scheduled to be available first for the Cingular Wireless network, in the United States, pending FCC approval.[33]

Additionally at the conference, Jobs demonstrated the Apple TV, (previously known as the iTV), a set-top video device intended to bridge the sale of content from iTunes with high-definition televisions. The device links up to a user's TV and syncs, either via WiFi or a wired network, with one computer's iTunes library and streams from an additional four. The Apple TV incorporates a 40GB hard drive for storage and includes outputs for HDMI and component video, and plays video at a maximum resolution of 720p.

Apple sells a variety of computer accessories for Macintosh computers including the AirPort wireless networking products; Apple Cinema HD Display and Apple Displays computer displays; Mighty Mouse and Apple Wireless Mouse computer mice; the Apple Wireless Keyboard computer keyboard and the Apple USB Modem. The Apple wireless mouse was replaced by the wireless Mighty Mouse.

Software

Apple develops its own operating system to run on the Macintosh, Mac OS X. Apple also independently develops computer software titles for its Mac OS X operating system. Much of the software Apple develops is bundled with its computers. An example of this is the consumer-oriented iLife software package which bundles iDVD, iMovie HD, iPhoto, iTunes, GarageBand, and iWeb. For presentation and page layout, iWork is available, which includes Keynote and Pages. Both iTunes and a feature-limited version of the QuickTime media player are available as free downloads for both Mac OS X and Windows.

Apple also offers a range of professional software titles. Their range of server software includes the operating system Mac OS X Server; Apple Remote Desktop, a remote systems management application; WebObjects, Java Web application server; and Xsan, a Storage Area Network file system. For the professional creative market, there is Aperture for professional RAW-format photo processing; Final Cut Studio, a video software package, as well as Final Cut Express HD, a cut-down version, for SD and HD video editors; Logic Pro, a comprehensive music toolkit, and Logic Express, its prosumer cousin; and Shake, an advanced effects composition program.

Apple also offers online services with .Mac which bundles .Mac HomePage, .Mac Mail, .Mac Groups social network service, .Mac iDisk, .Mac Backup, .Mac Sync, and Learning Center online tutorials. File:Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TigerDesk.png