Apple Inc.

US computer and electronics company, manufacturer of the iPod MP3 music player, iPhone multimedia mobile telephone, and Macintosh range of computers.

The company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, who released the Apple II computer the following year. The Apple Lisa, introduced in 1983, was the first computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) and a mouse. The first Macintosh computer made its debut the following year, but its proprietary design meant that it was never able to gain enough market share to compete with thousands of firms making computers compatible with IBM's PCs. In 1994 Apple licensed the Macintosh for the first time, thus enabling other manufacturers to make cheaper machines, the first appearing in 1996. Apple proved unable to compete, however, and reversed its licensing strategy. The Macintosh has a very strong following in the creative world, particularly in the publishing and the multimedia industries, thanks to its ease of use and the availability of the most popular software for these applications.

In the 2000s, Apple began to focus on other electronic consumer goods such as mobile phones and portable media players. The company opened the first Apple shops in the USA in 2001, after launching the iPod MP3 music player. In 2003, Apple entered the music sector with the launch in the USA of its iTunes Music Store, an online music download service. In 2006 Apple launched its first Intel-chip computers which are able to run both Windows and Mac operating systems. The following year Apple launched the iPhone, a combination mobile phone, MP3 music player, and Internet access device.