History of Apple (2011)

In 2011, Apple Inc. became the most valuable company in the world. The same year the company lost Steve Jobs, its founder, visionary, and leader. Anyway, 2011 was all about Apple in the world. Indeed, January marked the first time the company surpassed a $300 billion market cap. Also in January, the Mac App Store opened for business, phase three of Apple’s plan to kill off the optical disc. Apple’s First Quarter earnings were the best ever for the company, with $26.7 Billion in revenue, $6 Billion in profit on 7.33 Million iPads and 16.24 Million iPhones sold. In the second quarter Apple earnings were a blow-out again with $24.67 billion in revenue on 18.65 million iPhones, 4.69 million iPads, and 3.76 million Macs sold. Apple’s quarter was so good that they actually surpassed Microsoft in terms of profitability, something which hadn’t happened in a couple decades. Apple destroyed earnings estimates once again in quarter three with record revenues, profits, iPhone (over 20 million), and iPad sales. As a result, Apple shot past $400 a share on the stock market. By late July, Apple had more cash (and cash equivalents) on its books than the U.S. government.

History of the Apple Computer

Apple History 2011

January 6, 2011: Apple announces that the Mac App Store is now open for business with more than 1,000 free and paid apps. The Mac App Store brings the App Store experience to the Mac, so users can purchase apps using your iTunes account, download and install them in just one step. The Mac App Store is available for Snow Leopard users through Software Update as part of Mac OS X v10.6.6.

January 9, 2011: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A mock Apple laptop computer is used for live interactive video through WiFi.

January 11, 2011: Verizon Wireless and Apple announce that the iPhone 4 will be available on the Verizon Wireless network beginning on Thursday, February 10. Qualified Verizon Wireless customers will be given the exclusive opportunity to pre-order iPhone 4 online on February 3, ahead of general availability.

January 17, 2011: Apple announces that Steve Jobs will take another medical leave of absence, and releases Jobs’ letter to the company. As with his past medical leaves, Tim Cook steps in to the lead the company day-to-day. Steve Jobs would still retains his CEO title and remains involved.

January 22, 2011: Apple announces that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store by the more than 160 million iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users worldwide. The 10 billionth app downloaded, Paper Glider, was purchased by Gail Davis of Orpington, Kent, UK. As the winner of the App Store Countdown to 10 Billion Apps, Gail Davis will receive a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. “With more than 10 billion apps downloaded in just two and a half years – a staggering seven billion apps in the last year alone – the App Store has surpassed our wildest dreams,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

January 31, 2011: Mac Pro Server officially replaces the Xserve line of Apple servers. The Mac Pro Server includes an unlimited Mac OS X Server license and an Intel Xeon 2.8 GHz Quad-Core processor, with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM.

February 15, 2011: Apple announces a new subscription service available to all publishers of content-based apps on the App Store, including magazines, newspapers, video, music, etc. This is the same innovative digital subscription billing service that Apple recently launched with News Corp.’s “The Daily” app. Subscriptions purchased from within the App Store will be sold using the same App Store billing system that has been used to buy billions of apps and In-App Purchases. Publishers set the price and length of subscription (weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly). Then with one-click, customers pick the length of subscription and are automatically charged based on their chosen length of commitment (weekly, monthly, etc.). Customers can review and manage all of their subscriptions from their personal account page, including canceling the automatic renewal of a subscription. Apple processes all payments, keeping the same 30 percent share that it does for other In-App Purchases.

February 20, 2011: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A touch-pad computer resembling the Apple iPad is used.

February 24, 2011: Apple updates the industry-leading MacBook Pro family with next generation processors and graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and a new FaceTime HD camera. Featuring the very latest dual-core and quad-core Intel Core processors, the entire MacBook Pro line is up to twice as fast as the previous generation. Starting at $1,199 the new 13-inch MacBook Pro offers value and performance in a compact design. The portable 13-inch MacBook Pro features Intel Core i5 and Core i7 dual-core processors up to 2.7 GHz and Intel HD Graphics 3000. The powerful 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature quad-core Core i7 processors up to 2.3 GHz and AMD Radeon HD graphics processors with up to 1GB of video memory for high performance gaming, pro video editing and graphics intensive applications.

March 2, 2011: Apple announces that Random House, Inc., the largest trade book publisher in the US, has made its full catalog of 17,000 ebooks available on Apple’s iBookstore, including bestsellers by Stieg Larsson, John Grisham, Dan Brown, Danielle Steel, Laura Hillenbrand, Cormac McCarthy, Lee Child and many more of the world’s preeminent authors. Starting today, customers can pre-order upcoming releases from Random House including Lisa Gardner’s “Love You More,” Suze Orman’s “The Money Class” and Jean Auel’s “The Land of Painted Caves.” With the addition of Random House, the iBookstore now offers ebooks from all six major trade publishers and thousands of independent publishers.

March 2, 2011: Apple introduces iOS 4.3, the latest version of its mobile operating system. New features in iOS 4.3 include faster Safari mobile browsing performance with the Nitro JavaScript engine; iTunes Home Sharing; enhancements to AirPlay; the choice of using the iPad side switch to either lock the screen rotation or mute the audio; and the Personal Hotspot feature for sharing an iPhone 4 cellular data connection over Wi-Fi. The Safari mobile browsing experience gets even better with iOS 4.3. The Nitro JavaScript engine that Apple pioneered on the desktop is now built into WebKit, the technology at the heart of Safari, and more than doubles the performance of JavaScript execution using just-in-time compilation.

March 2, 2011: Apple introduces iPad 2, the next generation of its device for browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading ebooks and much more. iPad 2 features an entirely new design that is 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter than the original iPad, while maintaining the same 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen. iPad 2 features Apple’s new dual-core A5 processor for fast performance and graphics and now includes two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth, and a rear-facing camera that captures 720p HD video, bringing the FaceTime feature to iPad users for the first time. Though it is thinner, lighter, faster and packed with new features, iPad 2 still delivers up to 10 hours of battery life that users have come to expect. iPad 2 is available in black or white, features models that run on AT&T’s and Verizon’s 3G networks, and introduces the innovative iPad 2 Smart Cover in a range of vibrant polyurethane and rich leather colors.

March 23, 2011: Apple announces that Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will be leaving the company. Craig Federighi, Apple’s vice president of Mac Software Engineering, will assume Serlet’s responsibilities and report to Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. Federighi is responsible for the development of Mac OS X and has been managing the Mac OS software engineering group for the past two years. Serlet joined Apple in 1997, and has been involved in the definition, development and creation of Mac OS X, the world’s most advanced operating system. Before joining Apple, Serlet spent four years at Xerox PARC, then joined NeXT in 1989. Serlet holds a doctorate in Computer Science from the University of Orsay, France.

March 28, 2011: Apple announces that it will hold its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) June 6 through June 10 at San Francisco’s Moscone West. At this year’s five-day conference Apple will unveil the future of iOS and Mac OS, including exciting demonstrations of the new kinds of apps that developers can build using Apple’s advanced frameworks and more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers. Activities at Apple’s WWDC 2011 include more than 100 technical sessions presented by Apple engineers on a wide range of technology-specific topics for developing, deploying and integrating the latest iOS and Mac OS technologies; over 1,000 Apple engineers providing developers with code-level assistance, insight into optimal development techniques, and guidance on how they can make the most of iOS and Mac OS technologies in their apps; the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPad, iPhone and Mac developers from around the world; and Apple Design Awards which recognize iPad, iPhone and Mac apps that demonstrate technical excellence, innovation and outstanding design.

April 2011: After giving their results for the first quarter of 2011 Microsoft’s net profits of $5.2 billion are lower for the quarter than those of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. earned $6 billion in net profit for the quarter. Indeed, the late April announcement of profits by the Five companies marks the first time in twenty years that Microsoft’s profits have been lower than Apple’s. According to Arstechnica this would have been unimaginable ten years before.

April 27, 2011: Apple announces that the white iPhone 4 will be available beginning tomorrow. White iPhone 4 models will be available from Apple’s online store, at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. White models of iPhone 4 will be available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and the US, beginning Thursday, April 28 and in many more countries around the world soon. White iPhone 4 will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model with a new two year agreement through the Apple Store, at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

June 6, 2011: Apple introduces iCloud, a breakthrough set of free new cloud services that work seamlessly with applications on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store the content in iCloud and automatically and wirelessly push it to all your devices. When anything changes on one of your devices, all of your devices are wirelessly updated almost instantly. The free iCloud services include: The former MobileMe services – Contacts, Calendar and Mail – all completely re-architected and rewritten to work seamlessly with iCloud. Users can share calendars with friends and family, and the ad-free push Mail account is hosted at me.com. Your inbox and mailboxes are kept up-to-date across all your iOS devices and computers. The App Store and iBookstore now download purchased iOS apps and books to all your devices, not just the device they were purchased on. In addition, the App Store and iBookstore now let you see your purchase history, and simply tapping the iCloud icon will download any apps and books to any iOS device (up to 10 devices) at no additional cost. iCloud Backup automatically and securely backs up your iOS devices to iCloud daily over Wi-Fi when you charge your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Backed up content includes purchased music, apps and books, Camera Roll (photos and videos), device settings and app data. If you replace your iOS device, just enter your Apple ID and password during setup and iCloud restores your new device. iCloud Storage seamlessly stores all documents created using iCloud Storage APIs, and automatically pushes them to all your devices. When you change a document on any device, iCloud automatically pushes the changes to all your devices. Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps already take advantage of iCloud Storage. Users get up to 5GB of free storage for their mail, documents and backup – which is more amazing since the storage for music, apps and books purchased from Apple, and the storage required by Photo Stream doesn’t count towards this 5GB total. Users will be able to buy even more storage, with details announced when iCloud ships this fall. iTunes in the Cloud lets users download their previously purchased iTunes music to all their iOS devices at no additional cost, and new music purchases can be downloaded automatically to all the devices. In addition, music not purchased from iTunes can gain the same benefits by using iTunes Match, a service that replaces the music with a 256 kbps AAC DRM-free version if we can match it to the over 18 million songs in the iTunes Store, it makes the matched music available in minutes (instead of weeks to upload your entire music library), and uploads only the small percentage of unmatched music. iTunes Match will be available this fall for a $24.99 annual fee. Apple is releasing a free beta version of iTunes in the Cloud, without iTunes Match, for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users running iOS 4.3. iTunes in the Cloud will support all iPhones that iOS 5 supports this fall.

June 21, 2011: Apple announces Final Cut Pro X, a new version of the Pro video editing software which reinvents video editing with a Magnetic Timeline that lets users edit on a flexible, trackless canvas; Content Auto-Analysis that categorizes the content upon import by shot type, media and people; and background rendering that allows you to work without interruption. Built on a modern 64-bit architecture, Final Cut Pro X is available from the Mac App Store for $299.99.

July 20, 2011: Apple updates the Mac mini with next generation Intel Core processors, new discrete graphics, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology and Lion, the world’s most advanced operating system. The new Mac mini delivers up to twice the processor and graphics performance of the previous generation in the same amazingly compact and efficient aluminum design. Starting at just $599 (US), the new Mac mini is available for order today and in stores tomorrow.

July 20, 2011: Apple unveils the new Apple Thunderbolt Display, the world’s first display with Thunderbolt I/O technology and the ultimate docking station for the Mac notebook. With just a single cable, users can connect a Thunderbolt-enabled Mac to the 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display and access its FaceTime camera, high quality audio, and Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and Thunderbolt ports. Designed specifically for Mac notebooks, the new display features an elegant, thin, aluminum and glass enclosure, and includes a MagSafe connector that charges the MacBook Pro or MacBook Air.

July 20, 2011: Apple updates the MacBook Air with next generation processors, high-speed Thunderbolt I/O technology, a backlit keyboard and Mac OS X Lion, the world’s most advanced operating system. With up to twice the performance of the previous generation, flash storage for instant-on responsiveness and a compact design so portable the user can take it everywhere, the MacBook Air starts at $999 (US) and is available for order today and in stores tomorrow.

July 21, 2011: Apple announces that in just one day, over one million users bought and downloaded Mac OS X Lion, the eighth major release of the world’s most advanced operating system. Available through the Mac App Store for $29.99 (US), users are buying Lion faster than any other OS release in Apple’s history.

July 2011: Apple discontinues the Front Row interface for Mac users.

August 24, 2011: Apple’s Board of Directors announces that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately. “Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.” Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO. As COO, Cook was previously 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. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

October 4, 2011: Apple announces iPhone 4S, packed with new features including Apple’s dual-core A5 chip for blazing fast performance and stunning graphics; an all new camera with advanced optics; full 1080p HD resolution video recording; and Siri, an intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking. With the launch of iPhone 4S also comes the launch of iOS 5, with over 200 new features; and iCloud, a set of free cloud services that work with your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or PC to automatically and wirelessly store the content in iCloud and push it to all connected devices.

October 5, 2011: Just one day after Apple’s iPhone 4S event, Apple announces that Steve Jobs passed away earlier that day. Worldwide, tributes to Jobs begin to appear and this lasts for weeks.

October 10, 2011: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A mock Apple laptop computer appears.

October 12, 2011: Apple releases iCloud, introduced on June 6, 2011. iCloud becomes available to use via an iTunes update. iCloud will have 20 million users in less than a week after launch.

October 17, 2011: Apple announces it has sold over four million of its new iPhone 4S, just three days after its launch on October 14. In addition, more than 25 million customers are already using iOS 5, and more than 20 million customers have signed up for iCloud. iPhone 4S is available today in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK, and will be available in 22 more countries on October 28 and more than 70 countries by the end of the year.

November 15, 2011: Apple names Arthur D. Levinson, Ph. D. as the Company’s non-executive Chairman of the Board. Levinson has been a co-lead director of Apple’s board since 2005, has served on all three board committees – audit and finance, nominating and corporate governance, and compensation – and will continue to serve on the audit committee. Apple also announced that Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, will join Apple’s board and will serve on the audit committee.

December 12, 2011: Apple announces that over 100 million apps have been downloaded from the Mac App Store in less than one year. Apple revolutionized the app industry with the App Store, which now has more than 500,000 apps and where customers have downloaded more than 18 billion apps and continue to download more than 1 billion apps per month.

December 13, 2011: Apple announces the launch of the iTunes Store in Brazil with a large selection of Brazilian and international music from all the major labels and thousands of independent labels. Launching with a catalog of over 20 million songs, the iTunes Store in Brazil features local artists including Ivete Sangalo, Marisa Monte and the digital debut of Roberto Carlos’ catalog, available to purchase and download along with a wide range of international artists including the Beatles, Rihanna, Coldplay and thousands more. With most songs priced at 99 cents and most albums at $9.99, the iTunes Store in Brazil is the best way for iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music online. The iTunes Store in Brazil offers over a thousand movies to rent or purchase, with many in HD, from major studios including 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. The iTunes Store in Brazil now joins the App Store, which offers more than 500,000 apps to consumers in 123 countries, reaching hundreds of millions of iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users around the world. Customers have downloaded more than 18 billion apps to date. Apple is also bringing the iTunes Store to 15 additional Latin American countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela The iTunes Store in Brazil and Latin America offer music from major labels EMI Music, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music, and thousands of independent labels. All music on iTunes® comes in iTunes Plus®, Apple’s DRM-free format with high-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings.

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