BRAND NAME ORIGINS, CONTINUED: APPLE

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APPLE

About:

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California.

Some facts:

Apple is the world's largest technology company by revenue, with US$394.3 billion in 2022 revenue.

As of March 2023, Apple is the world's biggest company by market capitalisation.

As of June 2022, Apple is the fourth-largest personal computer vendor by unit sales and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world.

Apple was founded as Apple Computer Company on April 1, 1976, by Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne to develop and sell Wozniak's Apple I personal computer. It was incorporated by Jobs and Wozniak as Apple Computer, Inc. in 1977.

The company's second computer, the Apple II, became a best seller and one of the first mass-produced microcomputers.

Apple went public in 1980 to instant financial success. The company developed computers featuring innovative graphical user interfaces, including the 1984 original Macintosh, announced that year in a critically acclaimed advertisement called "1984". By 1985, the high cost of its products, and power struggles between executives, caused problems. Wozniak stepped back from Apple and pursued other ventures, while Jobs resigned and founded NeXT, taking some Apple employees with him.

As the market for personal computers expanded and evolved throughout the 1990s, Apple lost considerable market share to the lower-priced duopoly of the Microsoft Windows operating system on Intel-powered PC clones (also known as "Wintel").

In 1997, weeks away from bankruptcy, the company bought NeXT to resolve Apple's unsuccessful operating system strategy and entice Jobs back to the company. Over the next decade, Jobs guided Apple back to profitability through a number of tactics including introducing the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad to critical acclaim, launching the "Think different" campaign and other memorable advertising campaigns, opening the Apple Store retail chain, and acquiring numerous companies to broaden the company's product portfolio.

When Jobs resigned in 2011 for health reasons, and died two months later, he was succeeded as CEO by Tim Cook.

Apple became the first publicly traded U.S. company to be valued at over $1 trillion in August 2018, then at $2 trillion in August 2020, and at $3 trillion in January 2022. In June 2023, it was valued at just over $3 trillion.

The company receives criticism regarding the labour practices of its contractors, its environmental practices, and its business ethics, including anti-competitive practices and materials sourcing. Nevertheless, the company has a large following and enjoys a high level of brand loyalty. It has also been consistently ranked as one of the world's most valuable brands.

Name origin:

There are many theories regarding Apple’s brand name and its origins. Some of these theories include:

• The brand name was inspired by Eve’s bite out of the apple.

• The story of Nymphus gaining immortality by eating a golden apple.

• Alan Turing, the father of modern computing, died after supposedly eating a poisoned apple.

• From the famous saying: “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

• Some claim that the three founders wanted a more casual name.

• Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak wanted the Apple brand name to appear before Atari in phone books.

In reality, Steve Jobs named the company Apple because he liked the fruit. Jobs followed a fruitarian diet and suggested the name Apple to Wozniak after Jobs visited an apple orchard.

Logo evolution:

1976

The original Apple logo, designed by Ronald Wayne, shows an image of Isaac Newton reading a book under a tree. It captures the moment right before an apple fell on his head. The design includes the company name in a ribbon wrapping around the image.

Despite its uniqueness and art, the logo doesn’t wholly represent what the company stands for and quickly became outdated.

1977

Steve Jobs thought the original logo was too old-fashioned and difficult to print on a smaller scale. He hired Rob Janoff, an experienced logo designer, to rebrand the company.

Jobs wanted a logo that would represent modern computer design’s importance and blend in with the brand name “Apple.” The result was an image of a two-dimensional apple colored with a spectrum of rainbow colors. That new design underscored the company’s Apple II computer – the world’s first colored-display computer.

The bitten Apple logo was intentionally designed to distinguish it from a cherry since apples and cherries often look alike.

1984

The logo underwent minimal changes until 1984, but the most distinct difference happened during the Macintosh launch. Landor Associates removed the name “Apple” from the company logo and made it the logo we are familiar with today.

1998

Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1986 due to a conflict with company executives. But he returned in 1997 as the company was close to going bankrupt.

One of the biggest challenges that Jobs faced was to revamp the company’s image, starting from its logo. He changed the previous rainbow logo into translucent sky blue to fit the first iMac. But eventually switched to solid black in 1998 to complement their new silver computer models and to successfully paint Apple as a luxury brand.

The change to the logo also reflected Jobs’ love of skeuomorphism. In this design style, items mimic a real-world object so users can easily understand the designs, analogous to a product walkthrough, and adopt a new interface.

For instance, a 3-D image replicating a trashcan is easy for everyone to recognize, even if they don’t speak a particular language and can’t read the text.

2001-2007

Apple released Cheetah, a MacOS 10.1, in 2001 with the aqua Apple logo, along with popular products such as the iPod, iTunes, and more. It was a revolutionary year for the brand as many of its products were popular and helped Apple to earn record profits.

In 2007, Apple changed the logo to a chrome-textured design to go with its upcoming aluminum-based products.

Today

Apple veered away from its glass-themed logo and went with a simple and flat design, keeping the design straightforward while complementing its products.

The logo since then has been the Apple logo popularly recognized today. The flat design complements Apple’s low-carbon aluminum devices, helping them appear luxurious and easy on the eyes.

Apple's Sydney store.

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