The iPhone has elevated the company, while its new mixed-reality headset helped put it over the top.
By Stephanie Aaronson and Aaron Tilley
Apple Computers was formed in 1976 by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne. Wozniak and Jobs hold the Apple I, the first computer the company released.
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Apple went public in 1980, the same year as the release of the Apple III computer, shown here. The company initially sold 4.6 million shares at $22 apiece; it now has about 15.7 billion shares that trade around $190 each.
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John Sculley took over as CEO from 1983-1993. Sculley was recruited by Jobs in 1983 as CEO, but ousted Jobs from Apple in 1985 after a power struggle.
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Apple launched its first Macintosh computer in 1984, an important product in bringing computers to the mainstream.
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Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, when revenue was $7.1 billion a year and the company was close to bankruptcy.
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In 2001, Apple released the iPod. The first iPod could hold 1,000 songs.
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The first version of the iTunes Music Store, unveiled for Macs only, was released in April 2003. By December 2004, 200 million songs had been downloaded or purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
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The iPhone was announced in 2007, bringing to market a touchscreen-based smartphone, a groundbreaking departure from most of what had come before. Roughly six million iPhones were sold in the first year.
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More than 15 years after its launch, the iPhone remains central to Apple's financials and valuation. Sales of the product represented more than half of the company's revenue in fiscal 2022, and it casts a shadow over Apple's other products.
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Steve Jobs stepped down from Apple in August 2011, handing the company over to Tim Cook. Jobs died two months later at the age of 56 from a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
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The Apple Watch, released in 2015, was the first new product introduced in the post-Jobs era. Later versions of the wearable included an increasing number of health-tracking capabilities.
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Apple TV+ streaming service launched as part of a broader strategic move into online services. Reese Witherspoon stars in one of the first original programs, “The Morning Show.”
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In 2020, Epic Games accused Apple of collecting an unfair cut of revenue generated through the iPhone App Store. A U.S. District Judge mostly sided with Apple, rejecting all but one of Epic’s claims.
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In 2022, Apple issued a warning about supply-chain disruptions in China, raising concerns about its dependence on the country. Apple shares closed the year down nearly 30% as it began to move more of its supply chain out of China.
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Apple Vision Pro is announced in 2023, offering a window into what potentially could replace the iPhone many years from now. The so-called mixed reality headset combines virtual reality with the ability to place digital content into the real world.
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In its most recent fiscal year, Apple reported more than $394 billion in sales, up from $156.5 billion a decade ago, and had nearly $100 billion in net income.
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Produced by: Stephanie Aaronson and Emil Lendof
Cover photo: Philip Pacheco/Bloomberg News