Apple: From computer manufacturer to technology company
Summary
Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ron Wayne founded Apple in 1976 with a starting capital of $1,300 — Wayne left Apple eleven days later. The first product was the Apple I. The sales of the successor Apple II were so good that at the end of 1979 Apple invested money in a computer with graphical user interface (GUI). Jobs and employees were inspired by the GUI of Xerox Alto.
One of the first home computers with a mouse and an operating system with GUI was the Apple Lisa in 1983; the 10,000 USD calculator was not successful. Technically similar, but much cheaper, Macintosh appeared in 1984 — the name is derived from the McIntosh apple variety. The commercial “1984” for the Mac on the Super Bowl XVIII is legendary and the series became a great success.
In 2001, iPod and iTunes were released, followed by the iTunes Music Store in 2003. Apple thus developed beyond the computer manufacturer into a provider of consumer electronics and digital media. In 2007, the company introduced iPhone and Apple TV and changed its name from Apple Computer Inc. to Apple Inc.
Especially the success of the iPhone shifted the economic weights in the company. Macintosh computers remained an important business unit, but accounted for a significantly smaller share of total sales. In 2015, the Mac accounted for around eleven percent of Apple sales. Apple Annual Report 2015
A new technical development phase began in 2020 with the change to Apple’s own M processors. The first devices with the M1 included MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. The Mac business also increased economically later: in the 2025 fiscal year, sales increased by around twelve percent compared to the previous year. M1 presentation, business figures 2025
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