Ch. 1 - Overview of Marketing (Brief History and Mission Statement)

BRIEF HISTORY
 

Apple Inc. is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, computer software, and commercial servers, and is a digital distributor of media content. Apple's core product lines are the iPhone smart phone, iPad tablet, MacBook laptop, iPod portable media players, and Macintosh computer line. The Company boasts 284 retail locations spanning 10 different countries.

Apple was established on April 1st, 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to sell the Apple I personal computer kit. Steve Jobs was said to own 45% of the company, Steve Wozniak with 45% and Wayne with the remaining 10%. Steve Jobs and Wozniak were young with little to no assets, Ronald Wayne was older with personal assets and was scared to put these assets at risk. The ending result was that Wayne sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for a reported 800$. Today Wayne’s share of the company would be worth over 3 billion dollars.

Apple has developed a unique reputation in the consumer electronics field. Those who use Apple electronics tend to be enthusiastic about and loyal to the products while those who have no experience with Apple’s products often criticize them as being overpriced.

Many believe the single most important PR decision made by Apple to date was the production and release of their “1984" commercial. This commercial was directed by Ridley Scott and aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. The commercial was modeled after George Orwell’s novel 1984 which depicted a dystopian future where “Big Brother” told people what to think and as a result people, in general, had very little freedom of choice. Some say “Big Brother”, at the time, was meant to represent IBM while the female heroine was Apple. Today many would say that “Big Brother” was Microsoft with the heroine still being Apple, giving freedom of choice back to the people. Regardless of your interpretation of the commercial or your views on Apple as a company there is no denying that the commercial was a major event in the history of Apple and brought some much needed notoriety to the Macintosh line of computers.

With the release of the iMac on August 15, 1998 Apple was able to put to rest some its past failures. These failures included the first Apple Portable, which was bulky and awkward and the Newton, Apple’s first attempt to enter the PDA market. In 2001, after several years of development, Apple released Mac OS X, an operating system that targeted both consumers and professionals. Mac OS X was a complete redesign from Mac OS 9 and was able to harness the power of UNIX while offering a streamlined user experience with a simplified GUI (Graphical User Interface). The iMac line of personal computers paired with Mac OS X returned Apple to profitability and the release of the iPod portable digital audio player later that year was the icing on the cake. The company released the 1st I pad in 2010 adding to their consumer electronics products and the device is one of the best-selling tablets on the market. Since the 1^st launch of the Iphone in 2007 to the Iphone 6 in 2014 Apple is the top smartphone selling Company along with fierce competitor Samsung Electronics.

Source: www.Brighthub.com

 

 

MISSION STATEMENT

"Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.”