Apple Inc.

What is a Dividend?

› A sum of money paid regularly (typically quarterly) by a company to its shareholders out of its profits (or reserves).

› A payment divided among a number of people, e.g., members of a cooperative or creditors of an insolvent estate.

History of Apple Inc.

In 1976 Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak found Apple Computer, Inc.

In 1980 Apple converted to a public ownership.

1982: Apple becomes the first personal computer company to reach 1 billion dollars.

1991: PowerBook line of notebook computers is released.

History (Cont.)

1994: Power Macintosh line is released.

1997: Steve Jobs is named interim chief executive officer.

1998: The all-in-one iMac is released. 2000: Jobs, now firmly in command as

CEO, oversees a leaner, more tightly focused Apple.

History (Cont.)

Apple Computer, Inc. is largely responsible for the enormous growth of the personal computer industry in the 20th century.

Though battered by bad decision-making during the 1990s, Apple continues to show the same desirable characteristics in the 21st century that catapulted the company toward fame during the 1980s. The company designs, manufactures, and markets personal computers, software, and peripherals, concentrating on lower-cost, uniquely designed computers such as iMAC and Power Macintosh models.

Timeline of Events: 2001

January 2001: iTunes digital jukebox software is introduced.

October 2001: Apple releases the iPod offering “1,000 songs in your pocket.”

2002

July 2002: Apple introduces the second

generation

iPod, compatible with Windows andholding up to 4,000 songs

Number of iPods sold through 2002: 600,000

2003 April 28: iTunes Music Store launched with

200,000 songs at 99¢ each, along with the new third-generation iPod holding 7,500 songs.

>>> iTunes sells one million songs in its first week

June: One millionth iPod sold.

Sept: iTunes downloads top 10 million songs

Oct: The iTunes Music Store becomes available to Windows users.

December: iTunes downloads top 25 million songs

2004 January: Apple introduces the iPod Mini. March: iTunes downloads top 50 million

songs. June: iTunes Music Store goes

international– U.K. France, and Germany June: BMW drivers get the first car audio

system with iPod integration July: iTunes downloads top 100 million

songs October: Apple introduces the iPod U2

Special Edition

2005 January: iPod Shuffle introduced July: iTunes downloads top half a billion

songs August: iTunes Music Store debuts in Japan September: iPod nano replaces the iPod

mini and goes on to become the best selling music player ever

October: iTunes expands to include TV shows and music videos

Apple unveils the new fifth-generation iPod that plays music, photos and video

2006 February: iTunes sells its one billionth

song May: Apple and Nike introduce Nike+iPod,

including an in-shoe sensor to track the wearer's workout on their iPod nano

September: iTunes begins selling full-length feature films. iPod nano gets a new aluminum design available in five colors. Apple unveils a wearable new iPod shuffle with built-in clip

October: Apple announces the new iPod nano (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition

2007

January: Apple introduces iPhone. iTunes tops two billion songs sold, 50

million TV episodes and 1.3 million feature-length films

iPod shuffle becomes available in five colors

April: EMI offers its entire digital music catalog DRM-free on iTunes100 millionth iPod sold

2008 January: Apple premieres iTunes movie rentals

with all major film studios April: iTunes Store passes Wal-Mart to become

America's #1 music retailer May: Movies become available for sale on

iTunes the same day as their DVD release June: iTunes tops five billion songs sold Apple introduces the new iPhone 3G, twice as

fast as the previous generation and featuring support for third party applications

July: The App Store debuts as iPhone 3G goes on sale iPhone and iPod touch users download 10 m

2009 January: All iTunes songs offered DRM-free March: Movie fans can buy and rent films

in HD on the iTunes Store July: The App Store marks its first

anniversary with more than 1.5 billion apps downloaded

September: Apple announces the iPod nano has sold more than 100 million units to date

App Store downloads top two billion November: Apple announces more than

100,000 apps available on the App Store

2010 January: App Store downloads top three billion February: iTunes Store tops 10 billion songs

sold July: App Store downloads top five billion August: iTunes downloads top 300 million September: Apple introduces the new iPod

touch, FaceTime video calling, HD video recording and Game Center

The new iPod nano features Multi-Touch interface

Apple unveils the new iPod shuffle, the world's smallest iPod

Apple announces iPod touch

# of Employees, Where is the headquarters? Main Source of Income.

Headquarters: Cupertino, California.

Number of Employees: 60,400 employees

Main source of income: Technology, iPod, Macbook, iPhone, iPad, Mac Desktops etc.

Product lines of Service

Mac Family MacBook Macbook Pro Mac Desktops iMac Mac Pro Mac Mini

iPod and iPhone Family iPod Family : iPod iPod mini iPod shuffle iPod Nano iPod Video iPod Touch

iPhone family:•iPhone •iPhone 4•iPhone 4S

Stock Overview

Price: $613.99 Exchange: NASDAQ GS Current Change: 4.29 ^ (0.70%) Historical high: $613.99 Historical low: $22.00 Dividend amount: $2.65 per share

Strengths1. Hardware monoculture. Unlike any other smart phone

vendor, Apple creates both the hardware and software for the iPhone and iPad. That means everything just works, there are no concerns about fragmentation.

2. Business model monoculture. Apple's smart phone success has flourished amidst the dominant business model in the mobile phone world. Carriers pay full price upfront for phones at $600 or more a pop but sell them to customers for much less in return for lengthy service contracts at high monthly rates. That has made it very difficult for competitors to compete on price.

3. Brilliant, visionary leader. Without question, Steve Jobs is the greatest CEO working in tech-land today. His return to Apple in 1997 marked the beginning of the company's rise from near-bankruptcy to the overwhelming and dominating colossus we see today.

Weaknesses

1. The cloud. Apple has been bragging about how the iPad 2 is a "post-PC" device, but you still need to plug it into a computer to activate and sync it.

2. Social. Apple has tried to do "social" a bit with Ping, its social network based around iTunes music, and GameCenter, its social gaming service. They aren't huge hits.

3. The living room. The new Apple TV just got a small upgrade, in the form of live video streaming for MLB and NBA games. But it's still the weakest of Apple's products, with a relatively limited selection of video.

Opportunities Very loyal customer base which has expanded

beyond the Mac-heads of the 1990s with the iPod and the iPhone. The iPad has had a very successful launch. This seems to be leading to more sales of computers.

Has a well-deserved reputation for high-quality products that work smoothly.

Move into other computer or media product spaces that are not served well. Can continue to design the standard-setter for those spaces.

A new version of Apple TV could take advantage of today's more highly developed Web.

Threats Big ideas are easy to copy. Microsoft copied the graphical user interface,

and even Linux has a version. The touchscreen interface is being used in

other phones (e.g. Android). Apps are being developed for other smart

phones and devices.

High-priced products. Apple priced itself out of the personal computer

market, and that remains a problem. Other smartphones that look and

behave similarly to the iPhone are less expensive.

Google is moving into Apple's smartphone space by giving away the

operating system, and it has announced that it will also be moving into

the TV space. 

Would I buy Apple Stock?

I believe that I would buy Apple stock because it is a very popular and reliable business. It is a very expensive stock though because of its popularity, if I was rich though, I would most likely buy.

Works Cited "Apple Computer, Inc." Funding Universe. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. "APPLE IPod Timeline 2001 - 2012." Timetoast. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. "Apple by the Numbers: Sales, Stores, Staff All Grew in 2011."

PCWorld. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "Apple Inc. - Overview." Apple Inc. Web. 18 Apr. 2012. "What Are the Apple Order Numbers for Every IPod, IPod Mini,

IPod Nano, IPod Touch, and IPod Shuffle? @ EveryiPod.com." Mac Specs, Prices, Answers & Comparison @ EveryMac.com, Est. 1996. Web. 18 Apr. 2012.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/04/07/apple.weakness/index.html

http://theorangeview.net/2011/05/apples-four-great-strengths-are-also-vulnerabilities/ http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2010/06/07/apple-strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats.aspx