Background Report On Apple Company - 1903 Words

Part 1 - Background Report on Apple Incorporated Deborah Atwater, Lydia Hsieh, Zhen Jin, Suki Kwan, Martin Nguyen University of Southern California Professor Freed November 4, 2014 Apple Incorporated is a company that arguably has the most fascinating history and highest potential for historical profitability for its shareholders. From its early beginnings until today, Apple is the company that brought computing to the common man. Its history, product line and soaring profitability make the company an attractive corporation to watch. Corporate Beginnings and Leadership Two young friends since high school, Stephen Wozniak and Stephen Jobs, launched their personal computer company start-up on April 1, 1976 and sales began to grow†¦show more content†¦Over the last five years, the share value has increased from $28.62 in 2010 to over $100 as of November 3, 2014. There was a period of decline in value from the September 2012 all time high of $100.27 to a low of $56 in June 2013 when the value returned to a steady incline to the current price that exceeds the 2012 record breaking high (APPL, 2014). The continued increase in share value has rewarded investors in the stock market, as well as by Apple, Inc. itself through high dividends recently - $15.97 per share (adjusted for 7 to 1 stock split) in 2014, up from $11.80 in 2013 and $5.30 in 2012 - even though dividends have historically been negligible. From 1996 to 2012, the company declared no dividends at all, signalling a period of expansion and investment in the company (Apple, 2014). During this time, Co-founder Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO led Apple in remaking itself into the industry leader they are today. Job orchestrates an immediate success to the company, as he announces that Apple will sell computers directly to the consumer through the Internet; it becomes the third largest e-Commerce site in the Internet (Mesa, 1998). They revolutionized the music industry with the launching the iPod campaign in 2001 and the phone industry by introducing the iPhone in 2007 (â€Å"Steve Jobs†, 2011). In 1981, Steve Wozniak was injured in a place crash and gradually reduced his involvement in the company. Later that year, Steve Jobs became Chief Executive Officer and