Apple Inc.
The purpose of this report is to analyse the history and growth of Apple. Their marketing techniques used, the advanced technology introduced to society and how they have revolutionized the consumer’s wants and needs.
History
Steven Wozniak and Steven Jobs (the co – founders of Apple) had been friends since high school. They had both been interested in electronics, keeping in contact after graduation, getting jobs working for companies in Silicon Valley. (Wozniak for Hewlett-Packard, Steve Jobs for Atari)
In 1976, Steve Wozniak designed the Apple I. Steve Jobs, insisted that he and Wozniak try to sell the machine, and on April 1, 1976, Apple Computer Company was born.
Apple I was not taken very seriously and Apple did not begin to take off until 1977, when the Apple II debuted at a local computer trade show. The first personal computer to come in a plastic case and include colour graphics, the Apple II was an impressive machine. Orders for Apple machines were multiplied by several times after its introduction. And with the introduction in early '78 of the Apple Disk II, the most inexpensive, easy to use floppy drive ever (at the time), Apple sales further increased.
With the increase in sales, however, came an increase in company size, and by 1980, when the Apple III was released, Apple had several thousand employees, and was beginning to sell computers abroad. Apple had taken on a number of more experienced mid-level managers and, more importantly, several new investors, who opted to take seats on the board of directors. Older, more conservative men, the new directors made sure that Apple became a "real company," much to the dismay of many of its original employees.
In 1981, things got a bit more difficult. A saturated market made it more difficult to sell computers, and in February. Apple was forced to lay off 40 employees. Wozniak was injured