The Story of Apple and THE MAN BEHIND ITS SUCCESS
Apple is one of the most successful companies in the technological world. Over two decades, Apple has managed to introduce products that changed the entire tech industry, and that’s not all! Apple is now worth 2 trillion dollars in 2020.
Now, you might be thinking, What’s the reason behind their success? Or How did they manage to make it this far?
The answer is quite simple. Their business practices are clearly above than the rest of the competitors. But that’s not all there is to it.
So, I am here to tell you the story about Apple and the person who made this company successful!
The Story Is Divided Into
1. The Man Behind Apple’s Success
2. The Beginning Of Apple
3. The Foundation Of Apple
4. The Rise And Fall Of Apple
5. The Return Of Steve Jobs
6. Products That Redefined The Entire Industry
7. Conclusion
The Man Behind Apple’s Success — Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, California. Jobs completed his high from Homestead High School, Los Altos. Jobs met a person named Bill Fernandez when he was in his first year of high school. During his last two years at Homestead High, Jobs developed his interests in electronics and literature.
In 1972, Steve Jobs ends up meeting with Steve Wozniak through Bill Fernandez, who would later become his first employee. Steve Wozniak was a self-educated electronics engineer who was working on Blue Boxes. These boxes were capable of making long-distance calls at no cost.
Jobs saw potential in his project and decided to lend a hand to his friend. Jobs managed to sell a few thousand of these boxes for $150 each. Later, they split the profit with each other. Jobs even mentioned in his autobiography that
If it hadn’t been for Wozniak’s blue boxes, there wouldn’t have been an Apple.
In 1972, Jobs started studying at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. But, that college was expensive that his parents could barely afford. So, he decided to leave college. But, he wasn’t the only one! On the other hand, Steve Wozniak also had decided to withdraw from his college.
Both Steves had pretty similar taste, and emerging technologies was one of them. In 1975, Both of them had started attending meetings at Homebrew Computer Club. This club had played an important role in the development of microprocessors.
During that time, Steve Wozniak was working on an interactive video terminal that we now call an operating system. But, it was incomplete without a microprocessor. Wozniak didn’t know this until he was introduced to microcomputers such as Altair 8800 and the IMSAI at Homebrew Computer Club.
These microcomputers inspired him to build his own microprocessor for his video terminal, and all of this work would lead to the creation of Apple I — the first product released by Apple.
The Beginning Of Apple
On March 1, 1976, Wozniak completed the computer and decided to show it at Homebrew Computer Club. The response from club members was mostly positive, and Steve Jobs was impressed by the machine.
Steve Jobs was curious about the marketing potential of the computer and decided to give him a proposal. He insisted on building their own company, but Wozniak had other plans at the time.
Initially, he offered his design to Hewlett-Packard, where he was working, but his design got rejected. After getting rejected, Jobs finally managed to convince him to build their own company!
The Foundation Of Apple
On April 1, 1976, Apple was founded by 3 individuals. Those were Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. But, Ronald Wayne only has 10% of the share within Apple. Both Steves together were called “The Two Steves” of Apple.
However, Ronald Wayne, the third founder of the company, sold his shares to both Steves. He sold all of his shares just for $800, and no one knows a clear reason behind this.
Steve Jobs was the one who came up with the name of the company — Apple Computer, and Wozniak was the one who made the logo having Issac Newton sitting under the Apple Tree.
After the company was formed, both Steves took their last trip to Homebrew Computer Club and showed the final version of Apple I.
Soon, Apple I was officially released in July 1976 with a price tag of $666, and that’s how Apple started making their own products.
The Rise And Fall Of Apple
In 1983, Jobs recruited and appointed John Sculley as a CEO. John Sculley was the former president of PepsiCo. Jobs wanted him to use his marketing skills for Apple. He lured him away from his former company by saying a legendary line:
Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?
On January 24, 1984, the Macintosh went on sale with a retail price of $2,495. The main selling point of the Macintosh was the productivity tools like MacWrite and MacPaint that came bundled with the computer.
This was the first product that brought Apple to the spotlight for the first time. However, its official debut was made by a television advertisement named “1984”. At that time, Apple spent 1.5 million dollars on its first advertisement.
Initially, Macintosh sold pretty well but not enough to be the computer market leader. But, after three months, sales decline drastically due to its slow speed, high price, and limited availability of software. This became a reason of dispute and power struggle b/w Steve Jobs and John Sculley.
The Board of Directors instructed Sculley to remove Jobs from the position of general manager at the Macintosh Division so that he would have less control over the company. Jobs tried to fight back by organizing a coup to throw Sculley out of the company. But, his plan failed, and he decided to resign from Apple. He took some employees with him from Apple and founded another company called “NeXT Inc.”
After Jobs and Wozniak left the company, Apple stuck with the same strategy of launching expensive products and even did well for a few years.
In 1989, Apple released the Macintosh Portable, which was a failure. It didn’t sell that well, and it ended up being costly to Apple. By the end of the fourth quarter in 1989, Apple started seeing a decline in sales. Apple’s share loses a fifth of its value to Apple.
In 1990, Apple released the Macintosh LC, which was a low-cost variant of the Apple II. They tried to launch a cheap product hoping that it will do well as compared to their expensive computers.
In 1991, Apple released the PowerBook, replacing the previous Macintosh Portable, which was bulky compared to the new PowerBook. It did really well and brought a significant amount of revenue.
During the 1990s, Apple has started to invest money in side-projects like digital cameras, portable CD audio players, speakers, video consoles, and many other products that end up being unsuccessful.
On the other hand, Microsoft Windows has started to gain the interest of the consumers. The main goal of Windows was to provide inexpensive software for cheap personal computers available at that time. This actually ends up being the ultimate strategy for Microsoft!
By 1993, Windows had become the most used operating system in the world. Businesses of companies like Apple, IBM, and Motorola was starting to flop in the computer industry.
Apple tried to file a lawsuit against Microsoft for using a GUI similar to Apple’s Lisa. But that’s it! They didn’t do anything except filing a lawsuit against them.
After having bad sales in the first quarter of 1993, Apple’s board of directors cast Sculley out for making bad decisions for the company. They appointed Michael Spindler as the new CEO of Apple.
In 1994, Apple, IBM, and Motorola(AIM) allied together to release the hold of Microsoft in the PC market. The main goal of this alliance was to build a new computing platform, which will use IBM and Motorola’s hardware, combined with Apple’s industry-leading software. They also released the Power Macintosh. But, both strategies were ineffective against Microsoft.
The Return Of Steve Jobs And Everything Changed
In 1996, Spindler was replaced by Gill Amelio as CEO. For quite some time, Apple was trying to modernize Mac OS. But, they weren’t getting any success while Microsoft Windows keeps getting better.
In 1997, Apple purchased NeXT Inc. They were working on a modern operating system called NeXTSTEP OS. However, their main goal was to bring Steve Jobs back to the company as an advisor.
Apple was not doing well for a few years under the leadership of Amelio. He did many things right but not enough to break a three-year record of low price stock.
On July 9, 1997, Amelio was removed from the position of CEO, bringing Steve Jobs back in-charge as an interim CEO. Apple was weeks away from bankruptcy until Steve Jobs came back as CEO.
He wasted no time and started immediately rebuilding the company. At that time, Microsoft Office became something important that the consumer wanted. So, he partnered up with Microsoft to release a version of Office to Macintosh.
In August 1998, Apple released the iMac — designed by Jonathan Ive. iMac had such a beautiful design — translucent and colorful, while other manufactures were sticking with the same old design. It was also the first computer that didn’t have a floppy disk. Apple was doing these things even back in the old days. (RIP Headphone Jack)
The return of Steve Jobs greatly impacted Apple. They were on the verge of bankruptcy, and the launch of iMac brought them back into the computer market.
In 2001, the launch of the new Mac OS X(Based on NeXTSTEP) was aimed at both professionals and consumers. Mac PCs were no longer aimed at professionals, which lead to more sales and a good decision by Steve Jobs. But, that’s not the only thing. The design of Mac OS X is still being used in iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
Products That Redefined The Entire Industry
In 2001, Apple released the iPod, which was their first digital music player. This was one of the successful products released by Apple. The reason behind the success of the iPod was the software iTunes, which made managing songs easy, and the intuitive navigation scroll wheel.
In 2003, iTunes was launched for windows, and they also made an online store within, which made the entire process of buying and downloading songs relatively easy.
In 2005, the iPod gave an enormous lift to Apple’s financial results. It was looking better than ever for Apple!
On January 10, 2006, The original Macbook was released along with a new iMac. It was the first Intel-based computers made by Apple.
On January 9, 2007, Apple reinvented the phone. Steve Jobs introduced the world to the iPhone — a device which is operated only by the touchscreen. While other manufacturers were focusing mainly on keypad phones.
It also showed a much better implication of the internet, which revolutionized the internet on the phones. This also the time when Apple Computer renamed as Apple Inc. by Steve Jobs.
In 2010, Apple released the iPad — one of the best tablets that you can buy even now! The iPad is the reason that made Apple started making thinner MacBooks. This was the first time in history when Apple’s stock market value managed to surpass Microsoft.
In 2011, Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO. Steve Jobs was battling pancreatic cancer at that time. So, he chose Tim Cook as the new CEO of Apple but remained as the chairman of the company.
On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs died! A person who will always be remembered for the contribution and is responsible for the evolution of the tech industry. A True Visionary!
In 2014, Apple announced a new product named Apple Watch. Apple Watch is one of the best smartwatches that you can get right now. It has one of the best interface and interaction with the consumer as compared to any other smart-watches.
In 2016, Apple released the AirPods — one of the best selling wireless earphones among all others. Consumers loved the instant pairing process of the product, and became the reason for best-selling wireless earphones in the market!
In 2017, the company announced the refresh to the iPhone. The same design has continued for over a decade. The design is completely bezel-less and had a notch at the top of the screen. It looked so futuristic which made every other manufacturer to copy their design(Except Samsung).
In 2020, Apple did something unthinkable. Apple released its latest MacBook lineup with its brand new processors called the M1. The special thing about M1 is that its based on an ARM-Architecture. But, that’s not the only thing! ARM is commonly used for smartphones and it can easily beat the old intel-based MacBook. For more info, you can click here! M1 is power efficient and also powerful at the same time.
