Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products. It was established in Cupertino, California, on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, and was incorporated on January 3, 1977 by Jobs and Wozniak. The company's hardware products include the Mac line of personal computers, the iPod line of portable media players, the iPad line of tablets, the iPhone line of smartphones, the Apple TV line of digital media players, and the Apple Watch line of smartwatches. Apple's software products include the macOS, iOS, tvOS and watchOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software. As of February 2018, Apple is publicly known to have acquired 72 companies. The actual number of acquisitions is possibly larger as Apple does not reveal the majority of its acquisitions unless discovered by journals. Apple has also purchased stakes in two companies, as well as made two divestments. Apple has not released the financial details for the majority of its mergers and acquisitions.
Apple's business philosophy is to acquire small companies that can be easily integrated into existing company projects. For instance, Apple acquired Emagic and its professional music software, Logic Pro, in 2002. The acquisition was incorporated in the creation of the digital audio workstation software GarageBand, now part of the iLife software suite.
The company made its first acquisition on March 2, 1988, with its purchase of Network Innovations. In its two divestments, both of which were during the 1990s, parts of the company were sold to other companies. In 2013, Apple acquired thirteen companiesâ"more than it has in any other year so far. Apple's largest acquisition was that of Beats Electronics in August 2014 for US$3 billion. Of the companies Apple has acquired, 49 were based in the United States.
Acquisitions
What Does Apple Look For in an Acquisition? - Some think Apple should be looking to acquire big names like GoPro or Tesla, but do they really fit the profile of a typical acquisition target for the company? This podcast was recorded...
Stakes
Divestitures
See also
- Lists of corporate acquisitions and mergers
Notes
References
- General
- Specific
External links
- Apple Inc. â" official website