Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley, and known for consumer electronics, software and online services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer Company by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, the company was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. the following year. Its name was changed to its current one in 2007 as the company expanded its focus from computers to consumer electronics. Apple is one of the Big Tech companies.

The company was founded to market Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. Its successor, the Apple II, became one of the first successful mass-produced microcomputers. Apple introduced the Lisa in 1983 and the Macintosh in 1984 as some of the first computers to use a graphical user interface and a mouse. By 1985, internal conflicts led to Jobs leaving the company to form NeXT and Wozniak withdrawing to other ventures; John Sculley was CEO for over a decade. In the 1990s, Apple lost considerable market share in the PC industry to the lower-priced Wintel duopoly of Intel-powered PC clones running Windows, and neared bankruptcy by 1997. To overhaul its market strategy, Apple acquired NeXT, bringing Jobs back to the company. Under his leadership, Apple returned to profitability by introducing the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad devices; creating the iTunes Store; launching the "Think different" advertising campaign; and opening the Apple Store retail chain. Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons and died the same year. He was succeeded as CEO by Tim Cook, who will be succeeded by John Ternus in September 2026.