Apple

Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in California, and its first business was personal computers. Today it is best known for the iPhone, launched in 2007, which is still the product that brings in the most money. Around it sit the Mac, the iPad, the Apple Watch and AirPods, all designed in Cupertino and assembled by partner factories, mostly in Asia.

What makes Apple different is that it builds the hardware and the software together: it writes the operating systems (iOS, macOS) for its own devices only, and designs its own chips. Since 2020 the Mac uses Apple silicon, chips based on the Arm design that Apple engineers and TSMC manufactures, replacing the Intel processors it used before. Controlling every layer lets it tune battery life, speed and privacy features across the whole device.

The second business is services: the App Store, where it takes a commission on many app sales and subscriptions, plus iCloud storage, Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Pay and AppleCare. Services grow with every device already in people's hands, and the ecosystem (photos, messages and passwords syncing between your devices) makes switching to another brand inconvenient, which is part of the strategy.