Apple Inc iPhone

Apple was founded in April 1976 by Steve Wozniak, then 26 years old, and Steve Jobs, 21, both college dropouts. They started out building boxes they could enable one to make long distance phone calls for free, and started development and sales on the box. Together they built the first Apple computer; naming it Apple 1, offering Byte Shop the first to sell the Apple 1. Apple 1 was very simple from today’s computers, allowing users to very few features. One feature was for TV use and another was storing data, but very limited. Eventually 200 units were build and for sale. The Apple 1 Computer, a computer without a power supply, mouse, or keyboard was very popular in the area. Over the years they hired younger computer enthusiasts to help run the company and build their products. In 1977 they hired Mike Scott as president of the company, Mike was the 1st CEO of Apple Inc. Mike Markkula, a retired electronics engineer who had managed marketing for Intel Corporation and Fairchild Semiconductor helped them to created a business plan. They grew over the years and converted to public ownership in 1980(Funding Universe). “On February 25, 1981, the day known as Black Wednesday, Scott personally fired forty Apple employees, including half of the Apple II team, in a belief that they were redundant. Later in the afternoon he assembled the remaining employees with a keg of beer and explained the firings by stating, "I used to say that when being CEO at Apple wasn’t fun anymore, I’d quit. But now I’ve changed my mind—when it isn’t fun any more, I’ll fire people until it’s fun again." Following this abrupt event, he was moved to vice chairman, a title with little power, and Mike Markkula, the man who had hired Scott, replaced him.Scott left Apple officially on July 10, 1981; stating in his resignation letter: So I am having a new learning experience, something I’ve never done before. I quit, not resign to join a new company or retire for personal reasons…This is not done for those who fear my opinions and style, but for the loyal ones who may be given false hope. Yours. Michael, Private Citizen”(Apple Confidential). With the popularity of Apple Inc. and their feature products, also came competition. Apple was losing their customers and lost their grasp on the market. Steve Jobs, who left Apple Inc. returned to Apple in 1997 and turned Apple around. From 1998-2001 Apple Inc. went through what they called “Apple’s Renaissance”. To generate more revenues and a larger range of consumers, Apple came out with products such as iMac, iBook, and Power Mac G4, and iPod. The iPod was a digital audio player that came in many models. The iPod continued to evolve with iPod Touch, the Shuffle, iPod Classic, the Nano, and the iPhone.
With Steve Jobs at the reins of Apple, he and the board of director establish a mission statement for Apple, strategies, and operational objectives. Once created, the plans were trickled down the pipes, CEO down to the VP’s and directors, continuing to top managers and line managers. Apple establishes an empire, providing the world with computers and a phone that change the wireless industry forever. Steve Jobs always saw the big picture and recruited nothing but the best. In 1983, Steve Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO, asking, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"(Andrew Leonard). In 2002 after the first ipod launch Steve Jobs started to think of a device that could serve as a smart phone and an mp3 player. He saw people carrying around phones, blackberrys, and mp3 players and wanted to create an all in one device. In 2003 there became a high demand for smartphones with the launch of the Palm Treo 600. Steve Jobs being a control freak is responsible for most of the decisions about the iphone. Steve Jobs needed a phone service to carry his phone, he then teamed up with Motorola/Cingular. In 2005 he release the Motorola ROKR which was like “a phone with an ipod shuffle“(Wired.com). Realizing this was a dud, Jobs realized he had to create his own device. He later excluded Motorola and decided to launch his next device with Cingular(AT&T). The iphone announced January 2007, launched in July 2007. Later Apple released the iphone 3G and 3GS. Apple is currently working on the 4th generation iPhone along with a 4G network. Apple doesn’t mess around when it comes to have the best product out, constantly improving the most advanced smart phone available to make sure it doesn’t become outdated anytime soon. Apple Inc. was already doing very well with the mp3 players, now with the release and of iPhones Apple has generated higher sales and stock shares. Simply with the first month’s release in June of 2007, iPhone produce roughly five million dollars in revenue. Second quarter sales were release for Apple on March 31, 2010, the company posted revenue of $13.50 billion and net quarterly profit of $3.07 billion. Apple iPhones sold 8.75 units in the last quarter and told units sold totaling 51,234,000 since June of 2007. The iphone is an all in one gadget that provides cell phone service, email, music, video, games, email, etc. Instead of lugging around all your devices, blackberry, phone, mp3 player, all you need is an iPhone. The iPhone provides all sorts of utility with the variety of apps you can get from the iTune based store. The iPhone provides GPS, Stock updates, weather updates, mobile You Tube, and not to mention an mp3 player. Iphone users have access to over 100,000 apps, and have the ability to make their own. A small business owner can provide a product or service and charge his customer’s credit with an app provided by the iPhone. Two iPhone users can trade contact information (phone #, email, business, fax 3) with just a simple fist bump using one of the apps provided by the iphone. The Apple iPhone App Store generates over 1 million dollars a day, and Apple get 30% of that. So not only do they make money on the sale of the iPhone, they continue to generate revenue daily via the App store. Apple already knew who to market the phone too before the release of the device. Their target market was everyone; the iPhone can be use for pleasure or business. The smart phone has tons of features; a few would be thousands of apps available, ability to surface the web anywhere, and mp3 player. Apple wanted to provide the phone to everyone in the world, but they had to be smart and be selective when selecting target countries. Apple Inc. targeted large countries with a lot of influences in the world. They selected China, Canada, and UK, just to name a few. Knowing this will give the iPhone more popularity and sales. Apple selected to contract with At&t for 5 years while in development. There are rumors of opening the iPhone to all phone companies with the release of the new model, the 4 generation. Steve Jobs (CEO, Chairman, and co-founder) wanted to be in control of every part of developing and launching the iPhone. Tim Cook is the Chief Operating Officer and reports to the CEO. He is responsible for all of the company's worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries(Apple.com). Peter Oppenheimer (SVP, CFO) oversees all financial, tax, investor relations, internal audit, and facility functions(Apple). Apple also has specific executives for just the iPhone and it’s apps. Scott Forstall is the SVP of iPhone Software, he oversees all the production and delivery of the software for the iPhone. Apple keeps a tight list of executives and you can view a profile for all on Apple.com. The iPhone is a multimedia smart phone with internet capabilities. Since the release of the iPhone in 2007, Apple has sold over 50 million as of Q1 2010. Apple’s has an impressive record for hiring and retaining talented individuals. They formed a power house of managers and leaders that would put any company to shame. Apple hired an intensive research development department that comprehensively create and invent products for the market. There’s so much planning involved to get something from paper to the shelf’s of you local Apple dealer. The 1st generation of iPhones was release in 2007, but the development processed started in the beginning of the millennium. The CEO; Steve Jobs, wanted the team to development touch screen devices. They were successful and introduce the iTouch to the world. Having the world’s attention and especially AT&T, they began manufacturing iPhone for AT&T. AT&T had the largest 3G cover, so it was only smart to have them as a wireless provider. Many people switched from their current cell phone service just to have the iPhone featured on AT&T. So in conclusion Apple is a great company due to many factors. Having an aggressive management style pulling CEO’s of other powerful companies onboard. Having the best product available and constantly improving it. Their success comes from these, but also their ability to market to everyone. The iPhone along with other Apple gadgets can be a pricy yet great buy for any consumer. Steve Jobs being a powerful CEO helped push the company in to the right direction. He didn’t want a cool gadget that did neat tricks, he was looking to create a device that could change the way the world feels about cell phones.