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Apple Inc. in 2010

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APRIL 13, 2010

DAVID B. YOFFIE RENEE KIM

Apple Inc. in 2010

On April 4, 2010, Apple Inc. launched its eagerly anticipated iPad amid great hype. The multimedia computer tablet was the third major innovation that Apple had released over the last decade. CEO Steve Jobs had argued that the iPad was another revolutionary product that could emulate the smashing success of the iPod and the iPhone. Expectations ran high. Even The Economist displayed the release of the iPad on its magazine cover with Jobs illustrated as a biblical figure, noting that, “The enthusiasm of the Apple faithful may be overdone, but Mr. Jobs’s record suggests that when he blesses a market, it takes off.”1

The company started off as “Apple …show more content…

It sparked a computing revolution that drove the PC industry to $1 billion in annual sales in less than three years.5 Apple quickly became the industry leader, selling more than 100,000 Apple IIs by the end of 1980. In December 1980, Apple launched a successful IPO.

Apple’s competitive position changed fundamentally in 1981 when IBM entered the PC market. The IBM PC, which used Microsoft’s DOS operating system (OS) and a microprocessor (also called a CPU) from Intel, was a relatively “open” system that other producers could clone. Apple, on the other hand, practiced horizontal and vertical integration. It relied on its own proprietary designs and refused to license its hardware to third parties.

IBM PCs not only gained more market share, but they also emerged as the new standard for the industry. Apple responded by introducing the Macintosh in 1984. The Mac marked a breakthrough in ease of use, industrial design, and technical elegance. However, the Mac’s slow processor speed and lack of compatible software limited sales. Apple’s net income fell 62% between 1981 and 1984, sending the company into a crisis. Jobs, who was often referred to as the “soul” of the company, was forced out in 1985.6 The boardroom coup left John Sculley, the executive whom Jobs had actively recruited from Pepsi-Cola for his marketing skills, alone at the helm.

The Sculley Years, 1985–1993

Sculley pushed the Mac into new markets, most notably in desktop

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