Apple Stats and Facts

Even though it’s just named after a fruit, it’s one of the most innovative tech companies out there. Its products are highly sought after and are guaranteed to make you break the bank. This company happens to be none other than Apple. Started from a garage, it is now one of the largest companies ever to exist with a value of $1 trillion. Let’s have a look at how it has come this far.

History

• Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976.
• It was named Apple Computer Company and its headquarter was the garage of Steve Job’s childhood home.
• Apple produced its first product called the Apple I in July 1976. It was singlehandedly designed and built by Steve Wozniak.
• On April 16, 1977, the company got incorporated to Apple Computer Inc after one of its co-founders, Ronald Wayne left.
• During that time, Apple got its initial funding of $250,000 from Mike Markkula.
• The initial sales were a huge success and the average annual growth rate of the company between 1977 and 1980 was 533%.
• In 1984, Apple launched its famous Macintosh, which was, at the time, the first computer without a programming language.
• In 1985, Jobs lost the power struggle of becoming CEO of his own company to John Sculley.
• The same year, Steve Wozniak left the company saying that it had “been going the wrong direction for the past 5 years”.
• Jobs became the CEO of Apple in 1997 after a three-year record low sales under the previous CEO, Sculley.
• The name Apple Computer Inc was changed to Apple Inc, during the company’s keynote in 2007.
• The original iPhone was also unveiled during the same event along with Apple TV.
• Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple in August 2011 and became the chairman of the company. Tim Cook replaced Jobs as the CEO.

Steve Jobs

• Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco.
• His foster parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, encouraged him to experiment with electronics in their garage. This led to his eventual interest in designing circuits and electronics in general.
• Jobs went to a local school in California and went for Reed College, Oregon for higher education.
• He was considered excellent in his studies but had issues with discipline and often got into trouble.
• At Reed College, he studied a calligraphy course, which not only intrigued him but also had a part in future Apple product’s design language.
• Job’s first job was at Atari in 1971. It was during this time when he met Steve Wozniak.
• They, along with Ronald Wayne, started Apple computers in 1976 and came out with their first product the same year.
• However, after just 8 years of Apple’s incorporation, Jobs got stripped of his managerial duties after losing a power struggle with John Sculley. He later resigned himself.
• During his time away from Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computers. He also became a shareholder in Pixar, which is an animation company that made Disney movies.
• In 1996, Apple purchased NeXT computers, which subsequently brought Jobs back into Apple.
• Apple was not doing good during that time so Jobs was appointed as CEO after Sculley got sacked in 1997.
• Jobs shifted the company’s focus from just computers to new products. This led to the creation of devices like the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.
• As his health started deteriorating due to pancreatic cancer, Jobs resigned as the CEO of Apple in 2011. He died later that year due to cardiac arrest.
• At the time of his death (October 2011), Jobs net worth was estimated to be at around $10.2 billion.

Social Media

• It has over 11.6 million likes on its Facebook page.
• It has 2.56 million followers on Twitter but does not follow anyone. Surprisingly, there are also no tweets on its page.
• On its Instagram, it has 13 million followers but follows just 5 accounts. The followings include Beats By Dre, Beats 1, Apple Books, iTunes, Apple Music.

Revenue Model

• When it comes to revenue, Apple is in a league of its own. In 2017, it generated $6 billion of free cash flow. This was more than what Facebook, Amazon, and Alphabet did combined!
• Its main source of income is from the sales of its products. Couple that with premium pricing and low cost of manufacturing, you’ve got yourself a high-profit margin.
• In fact, product sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs alone contribute over 80% to the tech giant’s income. Among which, over 60% comes from the sales of iPhones alone.
• In the year 2017, over 216 million iPhones were sold. Followed by 43 million iPads and 19 million Macs.
• The sales of the rest of the products constitute an additional 5% to the overall revenue. Those products include Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, iPod, and other Apple-branded third-party accessories.
• Services like Digital Content, AppleCare, and ApplePay constitute the final 13% to Apple’s revenue.
• For a detailed infographic on Apple’s revenue, click here.

Innovations

• iPod: Although it wasn’t the first MP3 player to ever come out, it did happen to be the most important. Even back in 2001, it could store 1000 songs, which was more than anything available. It was also the first device that had the facility of creating playlists. It revolutionized the digital music trend.
• iTunes: A computer program originally intended to be a music player but became a sophisticated multimedia content manager, hardware synchronization manager, and e-commerce platform. For PC users, this was the first contact they had with anything Apple. Its refinement set it apart from rival software and it still is one of the best places to buy and stream music.
• MacBook Air: It was the world’s thinnest laptop when it came out. At just 1.94 centimeters wide at its thickest point, the original MacBook air was slim even by today’s standards. It was an iconic moment when Steve Jobs pulled it out of an envelope during its unveiling.
• iPhone: Launched in 2007, it was “the” phone everyone wanted. It had a touchscreen, a browser, music, a video player, and the ability to copy-paste text all in one package. It is evident that it was, at that time, the most advanced mobile device you could buy. The smartphones we see today were all inspired by this revolutionary device.
• iPad: It was the first tablet, that was responsible for shaping tablets that we know today. Launched in 2010, it was truly one of a kind back then and became an inspiration for other brands.
• Siri: Apple’s artificially intelligent voice assistant was again the first of its kind when it was launched back in 2011. The fact that it is still functional, improving over time and not abandoned proves that it is something revolutionary. It also was a source of inspiration for other brands to come out with their own assistants, many of which were abandoned.

Careers

• As of November 2018, Apple has over 132,000 employees.
• Just like you’d expect, a trillion dollar company needs a lot of people working for it.
• There are lots of opportunities available on its website.
• There are 2 categories where you can apply; Retail and Teams/Departments.
• Retail is further is further divided into Sales and Support. Sales openings include Specialist, Expert, Operations Expert, and Business Expert. Support positions include Creative, Technical Specialist and Genius.
• Teams include Hardware, Software & Services, Design and Marketing etc.
• Hardware has all engineering related jobs. Openings include Wireless Engineer, Digital Hardware Engineer, Design Engineer etc.
• Software & Services is all about, as expected, all the software-related bits. Roles include Software Developer, Machine Learning Engineer, iOS Applications Engineer etc.
• Design includes roles like Visual Designer, Design Producer, UI/UX Designer etc.
• Marketing involves making and improving brand image. Positions include Platform Specialist, iOS App Reviewer, Communications Strategist etc.

Recent News

• Apple’s new MacBook Pro might come with a 16″ or 16.5″ display. That will put the top-of-the-line MacBook in the 17″ laptop territory. How does it stack up? Find out here.
• There are rumors circulating that the iPhone for 2019 will not come with a USB-C port. It will most likely retain the aging Lightning port for cost-cutting purposes. Find out more here.
• Apple is honoring female coders and creators for the International Women’s Day. It is sharing individual stories through a partnership with Girls Who Code.
• Apple might be integrating health tracking on the second generation of AirPods. Along with that, there might also be water resistance on an “active” variant. Check it out here.