Do you know how old the apple is?

Apple should be 42 years old this year.

Apple (Apple? Inc？ ) is a high-tech company in America. By Steve Jobs, stephen wozniak and Ron Wayne (Ron? Wayne) and others were founded in 1 April 1976 1,1,and were named Apple Computer Company (Apple? Computer? Inc？ ), renamed Apple on June 9, 2007, and headquartered in Cupertino, California.

When Apple was founded, it mainly developed and sold personal computers. By 20 14, it has devoted itself to designing, developing and selling consumer electronic products, computer software, online services and personal computers. Apple's Apple II started the personal computer revolution in1970s, and the Macintosh relay continued to develop in1980s. The company's hardware products are mainly Mac computer series, iPod media player, iPhone smart phone and iPad tablet computer; Online services include iCloud, iTunes Store and App Store；; Consumer software includes OS X and iOS operating systems, iTunes multimedia browser, Safari web browser, and iLife and iWork creative and production kits. Apple is famous for its innovation in high-tech enterprises.

197 1 year, Jobs (16) and stephen wozniak (2 1) were introduced by friends.

1976, Jobs successfully persuaded Woz to assemble the machine and sell it with him. Their other friend Ron Wayne also joined in, and the three of them founded Apple Computer Company on April 1976. In May of the same year, Jobs negotiated with Byte Shop, a local computer store. Paul Terrell, the shopkeeper, ordered 50 pieces of equipment that were later called Apple I and paid $500 each on delivery. After obtaining this order, Jobs sold his valuables to raise funds, and persuaded the credit department manager of Cramer Electronics, a large electronic parts distributor, to pay for the parts first. Finally, Jobs successfully completed the transaction.

Jobs, Woz and Apple I, Apple IIc

1977 1, Apple Computer Company was officially registered as "Apple Computer Company". In the same year, Woz successfully designed the second generation of Apple, which was more advanced than the first generation of Apple ... Jobs wanted to expand the company and borrow money from the bank, but Wayne quit because of the psychological shadow caused by the failure of venture capital (another way of saying it is that Wayne gave up his crazy job for health). At that time, Apple Computer Company was short of funds. Jobs finally met Mike Markkula. He invested 92,000 dollars and signed a bank loan of 250,000 dollars with Jobs.

1977 In April, Apple launched the Apple II at the first West Coast Computer Exhibition. Apple II became the first personal computer in human history. For the first time, Apple II also has the structure of outputting mono sound, so that personal computers are no longer dumb. Apple II has sold millions of models in the 1980s, and there are many improved models, including Apple IIe and IIgs. Until the end of 1990s, these two kinds of computers could still be found in many schools and became the representative works of personal computers.

1980 65438+February 12, Apple went on the market. In less than an hour, all 4.6 million shares were snapped up, and the closing price of the day was $29 per share. According to this closing price, Apple's top management has produced four billionaires and more than 40 millionaires. At that time, they attracted more capital than any IPO company after Ford 1956 went public, and created more millionaires than any company in history. Within five years, the company entered the top 500 in the world, which was the fastest record at that time.

Since 1980s, Apple has met new competitors in the personal computer business. Among them, IBM is the most important person in the computer industry.

1983, Apple introduced a new computer named after the daughter of CEO Steve Jobs, which was the first personal computer in the world that combined a graphical user interface with a mouse. Lisa is an epoch-making computer. It can be said that there would be no Macintosh without Lisa (in the early days of Mac development, many system softwares were designed on Lisa). It has a 16-bit CPU, a mouse, a hard disk, and an operating system that supports graphical user interface and multitasking. Seven commercial softwares are bundled randomly. 1983 65438+ 10 debuted in October, and the price was $9995. Apple once again launched products that are beyond the times, but the high price and lack of support from software developers made Apple computer lose the opportunity to gain market share again. Lisa was terminated on 1986, and the remaining goods were buried in a landfill in Utah. This computer is considered as one of the worst products of Apple.

1October 24th,1984,65438+released by Apple Macintosh. This computer is equipped with a brand-new revolutionary operating system, which has become a milestone in the development history of the computer industry. As soon as the Mac computer was launched, it was very popular, and people rushed to buy it. The market share of Apple computer was also rising. Macintosh continued Apple's success, but failed to reach the most brilliant level.

From 65438 to 0985, Jobs was awarded the National Medal of Technology by President Reagan. Jobs insisted on bundling Apple's computer software and hardware, which made it impossible to popularize Apple computers. In addition, the blue giant IBM also began to wake up and launched personal computers to seize a large market, which made Jobs' newly developed computers fail one after another. The general manager and directors blamed the failure on Chairman Jobs.

1in April, 985, Jobs' management right was revoked by the resolution of Apple's board of directors. Jobs tried several times to regain power, but all failed. 1985, 17 In September, he angrily resigned as the chairman of Apple and founded NeXTComputer after selling his shares in Apple. Soon, the windows95 system was born, and Apple's market share plummeted, almost on the verge of collapse.

19851kloc-0/On October 24th, john sculley, then CEO of Apple, signed the worst contract in Apple's history. He agreed that if Microsoft continues to produce software for Apple (such as Word and Excel), it will be allowed to use some of Apple's graphical interface technologies. If Sculley hadn't made the deal with Microsoft, Windows might never have stepped in, because obviously, Apple would easily win any lawsuit against Microsoft because of its similarity with MacOS.

1988, because Microsoft used icons similar to Mac in Windows2.0.3, Apple filed a lawsuit against Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, accusing them of infringing Apple's copyright. This lawsuit has been going on for six years. It was not until1August 24th, 993 that the court formally ruled that Apple sued Microsoft in 1985: Windows2.0.3 did not constitute infringement. Their previous idea that "Apple will easily win any lawsuit against Microsoft" vanished with the judge's decision.

After 1989 introduced Macintosh Portable, a notebook computer with unsatisfactory sales volume, a more popular notebook computer PowerBook was introduced in the early 1990s. This is the first joint design with Sony, which sets a modern shape standard for popular notebook computers. It supports the screen through the hinge at the back, opens the back half of the back platform to place the keyboard, and the front is the trackball (later changed to the touchpad). Apple's products also include operating systems (such as ProDOS, Mac OS and A/UX), network products (such as AppleTalk) and multimedia software (QuickTime). In addition, Apple also developed the world's first PDA- Apple Newton, and then inspired developers to develop the HyperCard software of Wiki.

1990, with the decline of Apple's sales, Garcy's policy began to cause widespread controversy, and eventually it was pulled down. After Jobs left Apple Computer, the position of company development director fell to Jean-Louis Garcy, the head of the French branch. Garcy pushed the product line in two directions, namely, more "openness" and higher prices. He believes that low-end and low-profit Apple products should not be sold. Garcia's policy makes the price of Apple products higher and higher. The company once had a low-end project called Drama, which was finally stopped by Garcia.

1993, Apple introduced Newton and created the word personal digital assistant, which is the earliest PDA. Although the sales volume is not ideal, it has become a pioneer in Palm Pilot, Pocket PC and other products. Throughout the1990s, Microsoft began to gain more new computer users than Apple. Apple's market share has dropped from 20% to 5% in ten years.

1993 john sculley resigned as CEO and Michael Shpindler took over. During his tenure, he vigorously promoted Macintosh Classic, Macintosh II si, Macintosh LC and other low-end computers. And the policy of continuing to produce Apple Newton and developing Copland operating system. He also participated in the merger negotiations between Apple and IBM, and between Sun and Philips.

1994, Apple updated the Macintosh product line and launched the Power Mac series. It is based on PowerPC series processors jointly developed by IBM, Motorola and Apple. This processor adopts RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) structure, which exceeds Motorola 680x0 series used by Mac before and is essentially different. Apple's system software has been adjusted to allow most programs written for old processors to run in simulation mode on the PowerPC series.

From 65438 to 0996, Jill Amelio took over as CEO.

1On August 6th, 997, Microsoft bought Apple's non-voting shares with1500 million dollars in exchange for Apple's waiver of the lawsuit against Microsoft for copyright infringement and the built-in ie browser on each Macintosh. (Microsoft later sold all Apple shares. Perhaps more importantly, Microsoft also announced that it will continue to support its office series on the Mac version, and soon established the Macintosh software department. This move reversed the situation that Microsoft's previous Mac version was behind the PC version, and it also won several awards.

1997, NeXTComputer founded by Jobs was acquired by Apple and returned to Apple as the chairman.

In 200 1 year, Apple introduced the operating system Mac OS X based on Jobs NeXTStep. It finally combines the stability, reliability and security of UNIX and the ease of use of Macintosh interface, and is oriented to professionals and consumers. The software of OS X includes the method of simulating the old system software, so that it can execute the software written before OS X. Through Apple's carbon library, the software developed before OS X can relatively easily cooperate with and utilize the characteristics of OS X. ..

IPad (first generation)

200 1 10 year123 October, Apple's iPod digital music player was a great success. With its exclusive iTunes online paid music download system, it beat Sony's Walkman series to become the world's first portable music player, and then launched several iPod series products to further consolidate Apple's unshakable position in the commercial digital music market. In May of 200 1 year, Apple announced the opening of an Apple retail store.

Shops have two main purposes:

1. Restrain the downward trend of Apple's market share.

2. Improve the affiliate's poor marketing strategy.

Initially, Apple retail stores were only opened in the United States. At the end of 2003, the store in Ginza, Tokyo opened, which was also the first Apple retail store opened outside the United States.

Following the Ginza store, Osaka store, Nagoya store and the first store in London, England, which opened in August 2004, also opened one after another. In May 2006, Apple opened a 24-hour business on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, new york, with the entrance of the glass cube of its flagship store near 10 meter.

One of Apple's founders: stephen wozniak

In early 2002, Apple first showed off the new iMac G4. It consists of a hemispherical base and a digital flat panel display supported by a rotatable neck. The production of this product stopped in the summer of 2004.

On August 3rd, 2004, Kloc-0, Apple demonstrated the iMac model based on G5 processor, which went on sale in mid-September. This model omits the base, hides the CPU and hardware behind the flat panel display, and is only supported by streamlined aluminum feet. The new iMac, named iMac G5, was the thinnest desktop computer in the world at that time, with a thickness of about 5. 1 cm (about 2 inches). Products include Apple AirPort which uses wireless LAN technology to connect different brands of computers, as well as iBook and G4 computers.

At the WWDC meeting on June 6, 2005, Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, announced that from 2006, Apple's products will begin to use the central processing unit (Intel Core) produced by Intel Corporation.

On April 5, 2006, Apple introduced Boot Camp, a software that allows Mac computers equipped with Intel microprocessors to run Microsoft Windows XP. It simplifies the task of installing Windows on Mac, with step-by-step guidance, and users can choose whether to use Mac OS X or Windows when restarting the machine.

On August 29th, 2006, Apple Computer Company announced that eric schmidt, CEO of Google Company, had joined the Board of Directors of Apple Company.

In 2006, Jobs released the first desktop computer and notebook computer with Intel processor, namely iMac and MacBook Pro.

In 2006, the sixth generation iPod digital music player named iPodclassic went on the market.

In 2006, the second generation of iPod nano digital music player went on the market, which adopted the same aluminum shell design as iPod mini.

Room Design Related to Apple Products

In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone, which is a technology product that combines the functions of iPod and mobile phone. It is also an internet tool and a mobile computer.

In 2007, the third generation iPod nano ultra-thin digital music player went on the market, and its appearance changed from slender to wide and flat. In the same year, Apple also launched the iPod touch. A month later, the company sold 60 million programs, earning an average of1100,000 business profits for the company every day. In less than three months, Apple became the third largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world.

In 2008, Steve Jobs released (removed from the envelope) the MacBook Air on Mac World, which was the thinnest laptop at that time.

In 2008, Jobs released the fourth-generation iPod nano, the second-generation iPod touch, the newly designed MacBook and MacBook Pro, and the brand-new 24-inch Apple LED cinema display on Mac World.

On July 1 1, 2008, Apple launched the iPhone 3G. IOS2x officially provides global languages. Meanwhile, Apple stopped selling the first-generation iPhone in official website, officially because the price was too high.

Mac Book Air

In 2009, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president in charge of global marketing, released a redesigned MacBook Pro laptop with a screen of 17 inch at the Mac World 2009 conference. On March 3 this year, an upgraded iMac was launched, but its appearance has not changed. It uses NVIDIA's new graphics card and slightly reduces the price of iMac. At the same time, the upgraded products include Mac mini and Mac Pro.

On June 25th, 2009, the new iPhone went on the market and was named iPhone 3GS, where s stands for speed. IPhone 3GS was the best one of the iphones at that time, which ran more than twice as fast as the previous two generations, and added functions such as compass and camera. At the same time, Apple lowered the price of iPhone3G in official website.

On September 10, 2009, the whole line of iPod products (iPod touch, iPod classic and iPod nano) was updated, among which the fifth generation iPod nano supported camera and radio functions, and iTunes 9 went online, officially launching the Snow Leopard system.

201065438+1On October 27th, Apple launched the iPad. People think that iPad is a unique and novel product, but its launch is not as enthusiastic as expected. On April 3rd, iPad series products (Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi+3G) went on the market; On June 7th-1 1 (US local time), Apple held a meeting at the Moscone West Convention and Exhibition Center in San Francisco. Apple released the fourth generation iPhone, model iPhone 4.

20 1 1, iPad 2 series products (Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi+3G) went on sale on March 2nd; On May 6th (Beijing time), Apple officially launched the iPad 2 in a retail store in China, with the licensed price starting at 3,688 yuan, and each person is limited to 2 sets. On October 5th, 65438/kloc-0, iPhone 4S, iOS 5 and iCloud went on sale. At the same time, the iPhone 4 8G version was released. Apple officially stopped selling iPhone3G in official website and announced that it would stop selling iPhone3G.

20 1 1 On August 24th, 2008, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple. The board of directors appointed Tim Cook, the former chief operating officer, as the new CEO of the company, and Jobs was elected as the chairman.

20 1 1654381October 5, Jobs died. Cook did not make any major changes to the company after taking over, and generally continued to operate the company in the direction of the Jobs era. 20 12 65438+ 10/0, Apple bought the Israeli memory manufacturer Anobit for 500 million dollars, and set up a local R&D center.

20 12 April, Apple ranked first in the world with a market value of more than 520 billion US dollars. On the morning of June 12 1 (Beijing time), Apple officially released a new generation of mobile operating system iOS 6 at the World Developers Conference (WWDC) held in San Francisco, and launched new products such as new MacBook Pro notebooks and self-developed 3D map applications. On September 12, Apple released a new generation of iPhone5 and iPod touch 5. Official website stopped selling iPhone3GS and announced that it would stop selling iPhone3GS. On September 20th (Beijing time), Apple's new system iOS 6 was officially updated.

2013On June 10, Apple held WWDC 20 13, which slightly upgraded the endurance of the MacBook Air and released new Mac Pro, iOS 7 and OSX 10.9. On September 1 1, Apple released the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, officially discontinued the sale of the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4 (except China and Brazil) and announced the suspension of production. In 20 13, the latest data released by American research company FactSet showed that Apple returned to the top of the global company market value.

On September 201April 10, Apple held a press conference at the Flint Center in Cupertino, USA. The long-rumored iPhone6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple's first wearable smart device Apple Watch appeared. 10 June 17, Apple held a new product launch conference with the theme of "Long time no see" at the town hall of Infinite Cycle Park in Cupertino, California, USA. This is also the second large-scale conference held by Apple in the autumn after the official release of Apple's iPhone6 and iPhone 6 Plus. At this conference, Apple officially released the iPad Air 2, iPad mini 3, Retinal Screen iMac, the new Mac mini, and iOS 8. 1 and Yosemite systems. This new product release and all newly produced machines can use the fingerprint identification function. 165438+1On October 4th, Apple plans to open Apple University in China to seek to consolidate its long-term business position in China. Joel podol, Apple's vice president and president of Apple University, is interviewing candidates for president of China. ?

iPad Pro

2014165438+1October 1 1, Cai Chongxin, executive vice chairman of Alibaba, said that Alibaba and Apple are discussing potential cooperation in the payment field.

20 15 10/9 65438+ Apple has recruited John Solomon, an HP executive, to be responsible for product sales for the enterprise market.

20 151October 28th, research company konas said that apple became the largest smartphone manufacturer in China for the first time in the fourth quarter of 20 14. ?

iPhone7 Plus

2065438+February 2, 20051day, Apple announced that it would launch the first beta version of iOS.

On March 9th, 20 15, Apple held the spring conference of 20 15 in San Francisco, California, USA, and its brand-new products were unveiled.

20 15, 17 On April 7, Apple cooperated with the Conservation Fund, a non-profit environmental organization, to purchase more than 36,000 acres of fragile forests in Maine and North Carolina, and used this woodland to provide renewable materials for paper and packaging.

On September 9th, 20 15, Apple held the autumn conference of 20 15 in Bill Graham Municipal Auditorium in San Francisco, USA, and its brand-new products were unveiled. ?

20 16 on March 2 1 day, Apple held the spring product launch conference of 2016 in Cumbitino, California, when the 4-inch small screen Apple mobile phone and the new iPad will be launched. ?

20 17 February, IDC released the global smartphone sales data for 20 16 years, and Apple ranked second.