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What is Apple Inc?
Apple is an American technology company founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976. Incorporated in 1977, the company was one of the early manufacturers of personal computing devices with graphical user interface. Over the years, the company also forayed into other consumer electronics segments like mobile communication devices, digital music players, notebooks, and wearables. The company also develops and markets a range of related software and services, accessories, and networking solutions. Currently, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) is Timothy Donald Cook, commonly known as Tim Cook.
From smart wearables to digital content streaming platforms, Apple offers a wide range of products and services within a closed ecosystem. Its products include iMac desktops, MacBook notebooks, iPhone mobile devices, iPad tablets, iPod digital multimedia devices, Apple Watch and Apple TV. The services include iOS operating system for mobile devices, macOS operating system for notebooks and desktops, iCloud online storage, tvOS operating system for Apple TV, watchOS operating system for Apple Watch, iTunes for digital content services, Apple Pay digital payment service, Apple Music for online multimedia streaming, and Apple News.
Apple has been known to be on the forefront of innovation. The company was among the first to develop an app-based ecosystem for smartphones. It was the first smartphone maker to introduce touchID — a fingerprint scanner module to unlock a device — and use 64-bit processors, both of which were later also adopted by most other smartphone manufacturers.
Apple’s services have so far been exclusive to its own products. However, in March 2019, the company announced that its subscription-based TV Plus service will be available as an app on televisions from other brands, too. This is for the first time that Apple has enabled its ecosystem service to work on products from other brands, and more announcements of similar nature are expected in future.
In 2019, Apple also settled its long-pending legal battle with American chipmaker Qualcomm. The move came after the company found itself in a tight spot securing 5G chips to power its future devices. With Qualcomm on board, the company is expected to bring its first 5G-ready smartphone by 2020.