Stage I Establishment of the CTR company (1896-1914)

The Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), the prototype of IBM, was founded in 1911 by Charles Flint, who was known as the "Father of Trusts" because of his drive for business consolidation. Flint's preference for large organizations was not unfounded: the management of such enterprises led to economies of scale, which resulted in additional profits and business expansion.

The International Time Recording Company, which was founded by Charles Flint, quickly becomes the absolute leader in its industry. As for the Computing Scale Company, in which Flint was also involved, its activities were not so successful. That is why Flint is deciding to merge these businesses and believes that the financial resources of The International Time Recording Company will help strengthen the position of the second organization.

Seeking to obtain a merger of manufactures producing similar but non-identical products, which would help to significantly reduce the risks of doing business in a changing market environment, Flint carries out another merger: The Tabulating Machine Company, which was sold by Herman Hollerith in connection with with a sharp deterioration in his health. As a result of this merger, the CTR holding is formed. In the future, the company producing tabulators will be taken as the basis of the CTR company and will play a decisive role in its development, which is why it is worth considering the history of its formation in more detail.

In the 1880s, Herman Hollerith, founder of The Tabulating Machine Company, invented punch card equipment. Such devices, called tabulators, were capable of performing numerous data-counting operations. Hollerith's successful use of tabulators at the Baltimore Department of Public Health, as well as the War Department's chief surgeon unit, pushed Hollerith into a competition to select devices for use in the census process. As it turned out during the competition, Hollerith's equipment took significantly less time to perform the specified calculations than the devices of rivals, as a result, a contract was signed with the creator: the tabulators invented by Hollerith were selected for use in the US census in 1890.

After the census, the equipment became widely used in other American companies for the purpose of quickly calculating data, and Hollerith received several awards, which allowed him to create the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896 to sell his own products. Hollerith's company is an example of a traditional enterprise that uses labor-intensive technology to create computing devices. Hollerith is both the director and the owner of the enterprise. Based on this, we can conclude that The Tabulating Machine Company at the stage of its formation has a functional organizational structure.

At the first stage of development, CTR manufactures devices of different applications: scales, clocks, automatic meat slicers and coffee grinders, which, according to Charles Flint, helps to reduce the risk of ruin in the event of a sharp change in demand for the company's products, and also allows you to significantly increase income in a business-friendly environment.

At this stage, despite the merger made by Flint, The International Time Recording Company, Tabulating Machine Company, Computing Scale Company do not completely lose their independence and continue to sell their products on their own. It follows from this that, as before the merger of enterprises, labor-intensive technologies prevail, however, already at this stage, due to the expansion of the scale of the business, which requires an increase in labor productivity, CTR begins to make a transition to the use of capital-intensive technologies.

As for strategies, the company in this time period resorts to the protection of previously made investments, as evidenced by the mergers of enterprises carried out by Charles Flint, which means that the enterprise resorts to the use of horizontal integration within defensive strategies.

In addition, the production of computing devices is organized within only one product line. Considering the technologies and strategies used by the company at this stage, it can be concluded that CTR is characterized by a functional organizational structure. However, already at this stage, top management is separated from the owner of the company. (fig. 1)

Phase II Thomas Watson Sr. - Company Director.

The second stage in the development and formation of the company begins with the arrival of Thomas Watson to a managerial position, who managed to bring the company to a new level.

First of all, Thomas Watson makes significant changes in the approach to personnel management and pays more attention to the buyer. From his point of view, the right approach to people brings more results in doing business than investing in capital. That is why the company begins to apply scientific management: managers strive to find an individual approach to each employee based on his personal qualities, skills and abilities, find ways of motivation that maximize labor productivity, and also reward for decent results, which allows employees to see their chief assistant.

In 1916, Watson invests in the education of personnel; there is also a practice of retraining workers when the requirements of the market conditions change. According to the manager, educated workers will be able to meet the needs of the buyer with great success, which will positively affect the number of customers of the enterprise. In addition, Watson insists on the neat appearance of his employees. This approach to human resources management is successful for CTR because it helps maximize productivity through both training employees who put their knowledge into practice and following customer preferences, tastes, and careful handling.

CTR is gaining great success in the market. In 1919, the company's profit was $ 13 million. The reason for this is the following policy regarding the production and sale of its products, pursued by the company: the CTR company focuses on the production of large accounting systems, made to order both for the state and for private consumers, while CTR's competitors are more focused on mass production of inexpensive typewriters for office space. Also unlike other competing businesses in this industry, CTR provides a leasing opportunity. This policy of the company allowed it to sell products in a less competitive environment.

During this period, when buying tabulators, the company also requires its customers to purchase special cards that cannot be used with devices manufactured by other enterprises, which makes it almost impossible for buyers to purchase and test products from competitors of CTR.

CTR also enters into a cross-licensing agreement with its main competitor, Remington Rand, which can be considered in terms of defensive strategies, as this agreement limits market penetration of other companies, and therefore is aimed at maintaining and protecting previous investments.

These moves by IBM to eliminate competition in the marketplace led to government intervention in 1932. The trial in this case ends in 1936: due to the fact that 85% of computing devices are supplied to the market by IBM companies, the company is accused of monopolizing the industry - the company is prohibited from related sales. However, this limitation does not affect the well-being of the organization.

At this stage, the state, on the contrary, provides great assistance in the development of the enterprise: during the Great Depression, the company fulfills government orders that support the demand for the company's products during the economic crisis.

So, for example, the Social Security Act is adopted by the US Congress: the problem arises of the need to issue information about the employment of a large number of the population as soon as possible. It is the IBM company that undertakes this work and successfully copes with the task, which has a beneficial effect not only on the company's income, but also on its authority. In addition, in 1935, the Social Security Administration places an order from IBM for the production of more than 400 computers, as well as 1200 rock drills.

The company is generating huge profits at this stage. In 1928, its revenue, like that of Ramington Rand, was $ 5.3 million, but the sales of its main competitor, IBM, were nearly three times that.

As for the technologies used, in connection with the improvement of the offered products, CTR is completely switching to using capital-intensive technologies.

During this period, IBM was characterized by both defensive strategies and offensive strategies.

As geographic markets expanded, the company merged with the American Automatic Scale Company of Chicago in 1917 and the Ticketograph Machine Company in 1920. The takeover of companies manufacturing products in the same industry indicates the horizontal integration that takes place in the development of the enterprise. This fact confirms the defensive strategies used by the company at this stage.

To increase sales, the company begins to capture new geographic markets.

The geographical expansion carried out by the company within the framework of offensive strategies during this period is evidenced by the following events from its history: in 1914, CTR opens a branch of the International Time Recording Company in France, in 1917 a sales representative is appointed in Brazil, but already in 1930 in San -Paulo and Rio de Zhaineiro, IBM concentrates its production facilities, at the same time begins to sell in the Netherlands and Japan, and in China in 1936 the division of IBM China is created with headquarters in Shanghai.

Due to the increasing influence on the world stage, the creation of subsidiaries abroad in 1924, CTR was renamed International Business Machines (IBM).

Changes in business strategies at this stage of the formation and development of IBM have a direct impact on its organizational structure: the creation of branches abroad, complicate the system of its management, there is a transition from a functional organizational structure to a divisional regional one.

Stage III Growing influence. World War II 1938-1951

At this stage, the Second World War, in which IBM has significantly changed the way we do business.

During this time period, as well as in its early years, IBM pursued a policy of creating a supportive work environment. In 1942, special programs for the training and employment of people with disabilities were created, piecework was excluded wage, which improved and stabilized the financial situation of workers, workers are also provided with payments, benefits, and an insurance system is being introduced.

To support the supply, which has increased in demand during the war, IBM is building a plant in Endicott, which will not only significantly increase the volume of production, but also take over new product markets that are in demand during wartime.

During the Second World War, the demand from both the state and private consumers increased significantly. Sales revenues tripled the company's revenue to $ 147 million.

The US military needed high-speed calculators capable of solving a range of ballistics and atomic weapons problems, the proceeds of which went to help the relatives of soldiers killed in the war. The need for equipment for military purposes pushed IBM to develop and create a new device that went down in history as the world's first large-scale computing computer The Automatic Sequence Control Calculator (ASCC), which became a distinctive feature of a faster response speed to asked questions.

In 1945, Watson decides to open a scientific laboratory, which allows improving the products.

At this time, when the demand for goods in a difficult economic situation on the part of private buyers decreases, the company becomes dependent on government orders, which does not allow it to independently expand its products, create completely new models due to the possible risk of a decrease in demand. on the item. IBM is forced to produce only those equipment and computers that are in demand by the US government. This fact prevents diversification, investment in new product markets as part of an offensive strategy.

However, as in the previous stage of development, the company continues to expand its sales markets, divisions appear in Spain, Thailand (1948) and India (1951). In 1949 the World Trade Corporation was created to manage overseas trade. Along with geographical expansion, the company also applied unrelated diversification, namely investments in the production of weapons for state purposes, which increases the number of product lines. The technologies used by the company were still capital-intensive, but in connection with the opening of laboratories, the company began to introduce scientific ideas into its developments. With regard to management, the organizational structure at this stage continues to remain divisional and regional.

Stage IV Intensive growth and development of the company

This period of the company's development is marked by its intensive growth, transformation into a modern corporation.

In 1952, Thomas Watson Jr. took over as President of the company, and he will play a significant role in the development of the enterprise, turning it into a business giant.

First of all, after taking over the management of the company, Thomas Watson formalizes all the unspoken rules related to respect for the personality of the employee and the buyer, which have reigned since the inception of the company and ensure a favorable environment in the enterprise.

Thomas Watson Jr. also continues to develop the company's manufacturing capabilities. He invests in the development of scientific research, creates laboratories, complicates the applied technologies. The reason for IBM's focus on the introduction of scientific technology is the scientific and technological revolution taking place in the United States at this point in time.

The aggravated political situation in the world also contributes to the development of information technologies. In the conditions of the Cold War, the Government recognizes the need to use computers and supports their development, which has a beneficial effect on the development of the company.

The company begins partnering with the MIT Lincoln Laboratory to design and build air defense computers. By developing the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE), IBM is gaining access to research being conducted at MIT on the first digital computer. The company built six SAGE computers (the largest computers in the world), each priced at $ 30 million.

Cooperation with the state in the production of special equipment, access to laboratories enable IBM to produce the first serial computer IBM 701, intended for scientific research and computing. Another significant difference between the IBM 701 and previous devices is the presence in it of a magnetic tape designed to store information. The IBM 650, the IBM 305 RAMAC (with memory disk), the IBM 1401, and the IBM System / 360 family of compatible computers are soon created.

In 1953, IBM created the Heart-Lungs apparatus, with which Dr. John Gibbon successfully performed the world's first open-heart surgery on humans.

1957 goes down in the history of IBM as the year of creation of the most popular programming language FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) at that time.

In 1959, the company develops the world's first printer, which will be in demand until the 1980s, and three years later implements the SABER booking system for American Airlines and the Selectric typewriter.

In 1969, with the help of IBM computers, NASA landed a man on the moon.

Since at this stage, IBM is making a big breakthrough in development, significantly improving approaches to creating equipment, as evidenced by the creation of laboratories, scientific research, and as a result, the design and launch of computers that perform complex tasks and are used for medical operations, like the military, as well as accounting calculations and even in space exploration, it can be concluded that the company is beginning to widely use not only capital-intensive, but also science-intensive technologies.

At this stage, as in the previous ones, geographic expansion continues: opening offices in Singapore (1953) and Hong Kong (1957), creating a division in Egypt (1954), placing a research laboratory in Switzerland (1956). In addition, diversification is also taking place in the policy pursued by IBM: the company is expanding the range of products it offers, increasing the number of product lines, since in addition to computing devices, devices used for military purposes continue to be produced, and also printers, typewriters, devices for medical operations.

As more and more companies begin to use research and development, and the number of product lines also increases, it can be concluded that at this stage, IBM adheres to a matrix organizational structure, which contributes to a more harmonious interaction of the divisions of the enterprise with each other in relation to improving products, and also, management is carried out both from the production side, and from the design side, which is engaged in the introduction of new technologies.

Developer

Computers

Marketing

Marketer

Marketer

Marketer

Phase V Computers Become Personal

This period does not start well for IBM.

In 1971, IBM loses the president, who skillfully guided its activities: Thomas Watson resigns due to a heart attack. Until 1981, Frank Carey took his place, and John Opel was CEO. Under their leadership, the company continued to grow through 1984 with the IBM System 370, a more user-friendly yet IBM S / 360 compatible system.

At this stage, the improvement of manufactured devices is also taking place: computers are beginning to be used not only for scientific purposes, but also in everyday life, which speaks of the company's desire to protect previously made investments, to distribute its products through defensive strategies. For the first time, portable computers, credit cards, as well as magnetic disks, floppy disks used to store information are created.

As for offensive strategies, during this time period, IBM is also investing in the creation of new models of computers and devices that did not exist before. For example, in 1974, IBM produced Systems Network Architecture (SNA), a network protocol for computers. 1980 - IBM 3380, a device capable of storing about 2.52 billion characters. In 1981, the first personal computer was created, in which all the functions most desired by the consumer were collected. The small computer has 128 KB of RAM and a color screen. However, the company's success soon gives way to failure. IBM is deciding not to use vertical strategies, namely to independently produce all the parts needed to create personal computers, in favor of buying them from competitors. Thus, important components (operating system and microprocessors) are beginning to be purchased from major competitors Microsoft and Intel. This decision reduces the level of monopoly influence exerted by IBM in the market for products.

With the arrival of John Acker to manage the company, IBM begins to invest even more actively in the development of science, conduct research in the field of mathematics and physics, which will soon allow a significant breakthrough in technology, thanks to which it becomes possible to use banking services, as well as purchase services a product online - IBM is working to create the Internet. Such a policy on the part of the company's management speaks of the widespread use of high-tech technologies in the creation of products; in order to apply innovative solutions, it is necessary to accumulate and apply deep knowledge from various fields of science.

However, by the end of the 80s, IBM begins to fail, its revenues are significantly reduced: revenues fall from $ 5 billion in the 1980s to $ 3 billion. At this stage, competitors of IBM begin to take the leading positions: Intel successfully sells microprocessors, Microsoft breaks out sales of PCs, HP is engaged in the production of printers, Oracle is dealing with the release of software. The reason for this serious failure is the massiveness of the company, which causes complex management and additional costs to maintain it, which certainly prevents IBM from successfully competing with less diversified enterprises.

At this stage, IBM is increasingly using and developing knowledge-intensive technologies in connection with the improvement of existing models and the creation of new devices and systems. In terms of strategies, IBM is both investing in previously created product markets and producing new ones, i.e. combines defensive and offensive strategies. The organizational structure does not change and remains matrix.

Stage VI Return of leadership positions. IBM today.

The period under review begins with a change in the head of IBM. Louis Gerstner became CEO in 1993, bringing IBM back the leadership in software development.

First of all, Gerstner manages to make the size and variety of products the main strength of the company. He also begins to pay great attention to the development of the service sector.

Gerstner decides to “revive” the units that have not been fully functioning for a long time. It changes the role played by IBM Research. For a long time, this division was engaged in developments, which, as a result, were not introduced into production and did not bring profit. Therefore, Gerstner decides to retrain research personnel and engage them in the service sector, namely, to directly help consumers solve problems they encounter while using IBM devices. Gerstner also pays great attention to the development of the Global Services division, which develops devices that best meet the growing demand of consumers, and the Systems and Technology Group, which is engaged in improving the computers produced by them, expanding the tasks they perform.

Gerstner's policies began to have a positive effect on the economic performance of IBM as early as 1994. This year, for the first time since the early 1990s, the company not only does not make losses, but also makes profit. (The company lost $ 9 billion in 1993) This is mainly due to the massive use of the Internet, in connection with which IBM begins to sell the servers necessary to run the network, and also helps customers create their own websites. This move on the part of IBM can be seen as a related diversification in connection with investments in products directly related to the underlying development and technologies of the enterprise.

The successful development of IBM is also facilitated by the steps taken by the government towards restructuring the economy: the United States strives to develop small-scale production that satisfies consumer demand, aims to expand the sphere of services, and also focuses on creating high-tech products, which stimulates the growth of IBM, which is rapidly developing in this particular industry.

In 1994, IBM signed an agreement with Cyrix to co-create computer chips. IBM also acquires Lotus Development, a software company. However, Lotus Development does not lose its independence, IBM only supports the company in development, while getting the opportunity to use the software produced by Lotus Development. 1996 IBM acquires Tivoli Systems Inc., which develops network management tools. In 1997, IBM acquired Unison Software, which operates in computer systems management, and in 1998, CommQuest Technologies, a wireless chip company. The year 2002 goes down in the history of the company thanks to the merger with the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which brings the company significant profits to this day. Thus, the numerous acquisitions made by the company prove that at this stage the company is resorting to defensive strategies, namely, horizontally integrating with enterprises working on the production of the same products.

As for technologies, the company, as in the previous stages, continues to use science-intensive technologies, since the devices manufactured by the company require more and more precise development and research. The organizational structure of the company is changing from a matrix to a network: the branches created by IBM throughout its history of formation, at this stage of development function with greater independence, however, they rely on a single information network of the enterprise and use management solutions, developing technologies that are developed by the company's divisions such as Systems and Technology Group and Global Services.

"An apple falls not far from an apple tree," says folk wisdom... We have a great opportunity to investigate how correct the Russian proverb is. After all, today's article is about legendary Apple (from the English "apple"), which was founded by no less famous.

We introduced this person to our readers earlier, and now it's time to get acquainted with his "brainchild" - Apple, the largest manufacturer of personal and tablet computers, audio players, mobile phones and software.

Apple was founded in 1976 Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne... She has already crossed her 35-year mark and boasts some accomplishments.

At the time the company was founded, Steve Jobs was 21 years old, Steve Wozniak was 25 years old and Ronald Wayne was 41 years old. This significant event took place in the house of Steve Jobs' adoptive parents, or rather in the garage:

Please pay special attention to this fact. Many well-known global brands that are worth billions of dollars began their journey in an ordinary garage.

Many newcomers who want to open their own business think that opening their own business requires a lot of money, that they need to rent premises for a business, purchase goods or equipment, and hire a bunch of personnel.

As a result, even at the start, a rather large amount accumulates, which the beginner simply does not have. And this amount usually scares a person away. Of course, there are types of businesses that require fabulous money to open from the first days.

Look for ideas that don't require a lot of money to implement, and so that this business can be started in your parents' garage or even right in your room. But back to Apple.

Apple is the most influential brand in the world and the most valuable company in the world

In May 2011, according to the rating of research agency Millward Brown, the Apple brand was named the most valuable brand in the world. According to Forbes data for October 2012, the Apple brand has become the leader in the ranking of the "most influential", ahead of brands such as IBM.

In November 2013, the market capitalization of the company, that is, its actual value is about $ 472 billion, and the company reached its maximum capitalization in September 2012, when its market value was estimated at more than $ 700 billion. making Apple the most valuable company in history!

Apple is headquartered in the small town of Cupertino, which is 75 km from San Francisco, California. Interestingly, the number of Cupertino residents is even less than the number of Apple employees - the company currently has 60,400 employees!

What is the advantage that distinguishes the thousands of Apple from its competitors and allows it to earn billions of dollars?

The company, historically a manufacturer of PCs and software, expanded its market segments in the 21st century, entering the next development orbit with new audio players, smartphones and tablets.

Apple is definitely a leader, an innovative company, and in this it is very similar to its co-founder Steve Jobs.

Apple's merits are undeniable, because iPod audio player made a real breakthrough in the world of digital music, iPhone smartphone changed our vision of mobile phones, and iPad tablet set the vector for the development of the digital devices market.

All these "i-gadgets" have become an integral part of the image of a business, respectable and successful person... I would not be surprised if smart Apple devices with an “ai” prefix would replace names such as “audio player”, “phone” and “tablet computer” from everyday life.

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO since 2011, said he is very proud that the company is entering the holiday season “with the best iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, and full confidence in the potential of our new product line.”

The production of these new products, which are in high demand around the world, have really dramatically improved Apple's financial position.

As Steve Jobs said at the presentation of the first iPhone in 2007: “We have not created a new phone, we have reinvented it”

And at the presentation of the Internet tablet iPad 2 in 2011, he announced the onset of the era of post-computer devices.

According to him, they are simpler and more understandable than usual PCs and it is for them that he sees the future, while his competitors are only "trying to find the optimal balance in new PC models."

And even though these same competitors, represented by the founder of Microsoft, call the iPad just "a good reader and nothing more," time will tell who is right.

And this is the highlight of Apple. More precisely, one of many. After all, if you unravel the secret formula for the success of the apple company and master the art of creating such popular and beloved products and devices, you can be fabulously rich.

I would like to note that after the appearance of the tablet, some of the Internet publications began to develop special applications for it, for example, the most popular US magazine, Time, developed a whole concept for its iPad version.

However, is it really only innovation and high technology that helped Apple reach the pedestal on which the company comfortably sits today?

After all, now Apple is more than new IT technologies and modern production. Apple stands for aesthetic design, unique reputation, recognizable style, successful image and a whole culture in the consumer electronics industry. In a word, Apple is legend.

And let them say that “it's easy to find out if a person has an iPhone - he himself boasts about it in the first five minutes of acquaintance” and “the main purpose of the iPad is to show that you can afford an iPad”.

There is some truth in every joke, and the fact that "apple" jokes have appeared testifies to the fact that all these "ay-things" have leaked into our market, have taken root there and are loved.

Although this is true. Today, Apple products are more likely primarily a symbol of wealth and prosperity for their owner. People who buy an iPhone for the first time don't do it because of its technical features, but because of its status.

After all, if you understand this, then for the same price you can buy a gadget more sophisticated in technical terms, but whose name is not so well known. Perhaps this feature needs to be adopted.

If you are in business or plan to create one, then you need to aim not only at the technical parameters of your product or service, but also at its social aspects. If you can create a product that is cool to own, then your business will go right.

To dot the "i" in this "Apple" prefix, I will say that Apple is even more than a manufacturer of i-gadgets.

After all, the company stood at the origins of the creation of personal computers, its history is not simple and interesting.

One of the merits of Apple is that it was this company that paved the way for the production of personal computers with its Apple II series of PCs. In addition, Apple saw the great possibilities of the graphical interface and computer mouse earlier than others, introducing them into its products.

Let's summarize the important milestones in Apple's long journey in order:

1976 - the year of foundation of the company.

One of the versions of the origin of the name says that Steve Jobs wanted to see the company on the first pages of the telephone directory, hence the name with "a", and according to the second version he simply fulfilled his threat to call the company "Yabloko", because nothing could be better thought of.

By the way, this is how the first logo of Apple Computer looked like

By the way, it was this logo that came up with the third apple co-founder Ronald Wayne (Ronald Gerald Wayne). He is also called one of the biggest losers in the world, having lost a tenth of the company for just $ 2,300.

The fact is that when they opened Apple, Ronald Wayne had no confidence in the favorable future of this company. In addition, he had property, which he risked if business in this business went unsuccessfully.

Legally, all members of the company were responsible for any debts of the company, even if they arose through the fault of another partner. Jobs and Wozniak still had nothing at that time. They risked almost nothing, and Wayne could lose his property, which could go to creditors if things went wrong.

Let me remind you, officially the company Apple Computer, Inc was incorporated on April 1, 1976, and Wayne gave up his stake on April 12, that is, less than 2 weeks later. Thus, he deprived himself of a potential fortune of 70 billion dollars!

Let me remind you that in September 2012 Apple was worth more than $ 700 billion, and 10% of this amount is $ 70 billion. Well, as the saying goes: “If I knew the buy-in, I would live in Sochi”. And we will return to the history of the company, or rather the logo.

The logo designed by Ron Wayne did not catch on with the company. It was used for about a year, after which they decided to replace it with something simpler and more understandable. As a result, Steve Jobs turned to designer Rob Janoff, who created this logo:

This logo was created in just a week, and we took a bite to make it firmly associated with an apple, because without a bite it could be confused with a tomato.

The Apple logo is simple, straightforward and recognizable. He appears in films, in places where successful people meet, and increasingly in everyday life. They say that even the president of Samsung, Apple's main competitor in the smartphone market, is afraid to eat apples in crowded places: what if the paparazzi take a picture of him with a bitten one?

By the way, this logo existed in the company from 1976 to 1998, after which it was replaced with monochrome:

Now let's get back to the history of Apple. In 1976, the Apple I programmable computer was released.

1977-93 - release of various models of Apple II computers. It became the company's first mass-produced computer.

1980 - Apple is conducting the largest initial public offering since 1956 (Ford went public that year).

Thus, Apple becomes a public company, and now its shares are traded on the NASDAQ stock market and the London Stock Exchange. In 2012, the company's shares surpassed the $ 500 mark for the first time, and in the same year they reached $ 700 in electronic trading on the NASDAQ.

1980 - characterized by the disastrous release of the Apple III PC. This computer is pretty raw. It constantly broke down and, moreover, there were very few offers for it on the computer software market.

Problems with their sales lead to the fact that Jobs is laying off 40 employees, and the media talks about the imminent collapse of the company.

By that time, Jobs had lost interest in the Apple III project and turned his attention to the Apple Lisa project. And at about the same time, Jobs began his first "graters" with other co-owners of the company and the board of directors.

Jobs was a tough enough man. He always wanted it to be the way he wants, which is why conflicts arose with employees, engineers and partners.

The fact is that in order to develop a particular project in companies like Apple, special working groups are created, which solve the assigned tasks. Each group has its own leader. And Jobs used to get involved in the affairs of this or that group and make significant amendments to previously developed projects.

Something like this happened with the Lisa project. Imagine that a computer project has been developed and work is in full swing on it. Jobs appears and orders to do things differently. Naturally, all this terribly slowed down the work, and since Jobs was a perfectionist, he did not calm down until he brought every little thing to an ideal state.

This led to delays in the delivery of projects and, accordingly, to a loss of profit for the company, which was terribly disliked by the shareholders. As a result, Jobs was removed from the Lisa project. which upset him terribly.

1983 - Steve Jobs invites the highly experienced John Scully to the position of president of the company, at that time general director PepsiCo. The phrase with which Jobs managed to "lure" a top manager of Pepsi into the CEO chair of Apple, became one of the most famous sayings in business - "Do you intend to sell soda for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world?" Scully chooses Apple and leads the company until 1993.

True, Jobs will soon regret it, saying that Scully's job offer was the most unfortunate decision of his life.

1984 - Apple introduces a new 32-bit Macintosh, named after its favorite apple by developer Jeff Raskin. True, Jeff led the project at the beginning, and then he was sent on forced leave, and the project was headed by Steve Jobs.

The release of Macintosh computers strengthened Jobs' position in the company, as thanks to the release of this model, it was possible to increase the company's profits.

After that, the company stops manufacturing the uncompetitive Apple III PC family. The Macintosh series becomes the company's core business.

1985 - due to conflicts in management, the company leaves its co-founder Steve Jobs. Although leaving the company does not sound quite right. In fact, he was fired from his own company.

Despite the fact that the Macintosh sold, but not as well as planned. Shareholders accused Steve Jobs of building non-competitive computers, and Jobs accused shareholders and company executives of overpricing the Macintosh.

The main villain Jobs considered Scully, whom he had once dragged from Pepsi. As a result of this confrontation, the board of directors chose John Scully as the more experienced executive who could improve Apple's affairs.

In the same year, Jobs founds NeXT. Later, in 2005, speaking to graduates of Stanford University, Jobs said that leaving Apple was the best and surest decision at the time.

The Scully partnership hasn't brought much success to Apple. All this time, the company has been balancing on the brink of survival. As a result, after a significant drop in Apple's market value, the board of directors fires John Scully.

Jobs is also doing very well at NeXT. As a result, Apple's new management decides that the company needs a drastic change and that only Jobs can initiate the change.

It's worth noting that things were going so badly for NeXT that Jobs had to shut down all computer manufacturing, leaving only software development afloat.

Subsequently, these developments became the basis of the Mac OS operating system.

1996 - returns to the Apple CEO chair. The company buys Jobs' firm NeXT, paying as much as $ 430 million for it. I note that over the years of its existence, Apple has repeatedly absorbed various companies operating in the IT technology market - Siri, Anobit Technologies, etc.

1996 to 1998 Apple has gone through a dramatic change. It was decided to abandon many projects. More than 3,000 employees were laid off. The company has focused its efforts on four main areas:

• desktop models for professionals Power Macintosh G3
• portable computers for professionals PowerBook G3
• stationary models of computers for ordinary consumers iMac
• portable computer models for ordinary iBook consumers

1998 - As a result of the work done in the arena of computer technology, a new futuristic model iMac G3 appears, which became the fastest selling computer in the history of Apple.

At the same time, Jobs begins to nurture the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating his own chain of stores, which will sell apple products. He was not happy with the fact that Apple products are on the same shelf with other brands.

He wanted his products to be sold in a special way. So that sellers do not put it on a par with other products.

And therein lies another highlight that makes Apple products superior to their competitors. When you believe that your product is special and you try to make it that way, then it will be. Jobs didn't like mediocrity. And he always tried to combine elegant design and the latest technology in his products.

2000 - the collapse of the dotcoms. Dotcom literally translates as “.com”. Dot-coms are companies related to the Internet. Apple has never been a dot-com company. But it was very dependent on this market, because Apple products are aimed at PC users, and with the advent of the Internet into our lives, “computer and the Internet” have become practically inseparable words.

So, in 2000 in the United States there was a collapse of companies related to the Internet. The value of shares of such companies began to fall, including the value of Apple shares.

This crisis has spread to other sectors of the economy. In general, it is believed that it was the collapse of the dot-coms that provoked the subsequent collapse of the world economy in 2007-2008, the consequences of which we still feel.

I wrote in more detail about the crash of dotcoms and the crisis here:

Why am I writing about the crisis now? What does the crisis, dot-coms and Apple have to do with it, you might ask?

In fact, this is very important, because it was the crisis that changed the vector of Apple's development. It was the collapse of the dot-coms that forced Steve Jobs to seek new markets, thanks to which his company could not only survive, but also flourish.

As a result of the search for new technological solutions, devices such as iPod, iPhone, iPad appeared, as well as various software that users of apple products love so much.

As planned by Jobs, a computer in the future should become a multifunctional complex, consisting not only of a monitor, a system unit and a keyboard, but also of various peripheral devices such as a player, a telephone, etc.

Jobs began to embody his idea by creating quality software. among which I would like to especially note the emergence of the universal media player iTunes.

It was with the advent of this software that Apple became one of the key players in the music market. The fact is that the music market was also not going through the most better times.

With the development of the Internet and the emergence of the mp-3 format, pirates bit the music market hard. And the emergence of iTunes, or rather the iTunes Store. which will be discussed below, allowed to increase sales of legal content.

With the advent of iTunes, there was an urgent need for a music device that would work with this software. This is how the iPod was born.

2001 - presentation of the iPod audio player.

In parallel with the launch of the iPod, Apple opens the first two Apple Stores. Experts predicted the failure of this idea, but as of September 2013, 413 stores were open and successfully operating in 14 countries of the world.

The Apple Store isn't just a tech store - it's a geek's paradise!

2003 - presentation of the online music store iTunes Store.

The key feature of this store was that it was possible to buy songs there one by one, and not as a whole album, as was customary before, and also the fact that the main buyers were the owners of apple products.

the iTunes Store predicted one million sales in its first 6 months of operation. As a result, a million songs were sold out in 6 days of work.

2007 - the release of the iPhone smartphone, which was announced by Steve Jobs himself.

It was under his leadership that Apple was able to discover new market segments. In the same year, the company changes its official name from Apple Computer to simply Apple, in connection with the entry to the market consumer electronics.

The appearance of the iPhone is due to the fact that with the development of mobile technologies, the demand for cameras and digital cameras has dropped. Developers of mobile devices began to combine a phone, a camera and audio players.

Jobs realized that the audio player market was doomed and would soon be swallowed up by phones that combined all of these devices. And then he set the task of his subordinates to develop a new phone that would combine all these functions and, according to Apple's tradition, would be elegant and convenient.

Time magazine subsequently recognizes the iPhone as the invention of the year!

2008 - iPhone is ranked 2nd in the ranking of the most useful modern technologies, according to the publication PCWorld.

2008 - Apple releases the world's thinnest laptop, the MacBook Air

The 2000s were a real triumph for Jobs and his team. Apple almost every year surprises the world with something and makes its army of fans more and more.

2010 - Apple launches the iPad.

The most interesting thing is that the idea of \u200b\u200btablet computers with a touch screen was proposed back in 1988 by students at the University of Illinois. They were then working on the theme "What the Personal Computer of the Year 2000 Will Be Like" in a competition run by Apple.

By the way, he looked like this:

In the same 2010, IPhone 4 took 1st place in the list of the best phones in the Bestseller and Image nominations according to Mobile-Review.com.

2011 - in August Steve Jobs leaves for health reasons, and in November he was gone.

Love for their work in many ways ensured such success for the company. The “parent” inherited part of his individual character traits to his “apple” - this is love for innovation, creativity, courage and style.

Since September 2012 of the year, the iPhone 5 goes on sale.

They joke that the iPhone is the smartest phone, and it has the highest percentage of owners who are significantly dumber than their phone)

I don't know about the IQ of smartphone owners, but the fact that there are a lot of them is a fact. The number of pre-orders for the fifth iPhone has reached 2 million per day!

Evgeny Chichvarkin, the ex-founder of Euroset, who now lives in London, is probably among the happy owners of the smartphone. According to him, he intended to replace the iPhone 4S with the iPhone 5 as soon as sales of it begin in Foggy Albion.

As for Russia, Apple smartphones have won a wide audience here too. While some argue that the iPhone would sell better if russian market went under the translated name "yaMobilko"

However, Apple is already widely known in our territory. She positions herself as a manufacturer of simple devices created for the convenience, communication and entertainment of people. Although all this technology of the future, sold already in the present, is very, very expensive.

If you look at the official Russian-language website www.apple.com/ru, you can see that the keywords in the description of the company's goods are not dry specifications, and enthusiastic glossy epithets.

Apple doesn't just have “12 megapixels, 17 inches, 3GB”, it has endless possibilities, amazing quality, a great display and the most advanced operating system in the world!

Everything from Apple works automatically, easily and discreetly - laptops are "faster than you can imagine", iPhones "do everything for you" and iPods, with which "sword fights become more intense, and zombie hunting more effective!"

Apple protects its technical developments very jealously. The company monitors the quality of its brand, opens brand stores and creates an entire ecosystem of software and numerous applications.

With regard to Apple, it is said that the company "has patented the patent patenting." Quite a truthful observation, because as of October 2012 the company received 5440 patents for its inventions and design projects!

Protecting intellectual property rights, Apple is suing one firm and then another, while winning and losing litigation. Thus, Nokia accused Apple of violating 10 patents, and Apple filed a lawsuit against Samsung. She, however, was found innocent by a British court, but the patent battles continue.

Apple now has the highest profitability in terms of both sales and prestige and design. The company is not going to be satisfied with what has already been achieved. In fact, Apple “bears fruit” with real “golden apples”, and I will wait with interest what other “i-gadget” the company's developers will surprise us with. So Apple, step by step.

P.S. By the way, do you know what the prefix “i” means in the name of Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac)? The answer is simple - internet

The history of the oil company Rosneft is inextricably linked with the history of the domestic oil industry. The first mentions of the enterprises that are now part of Rosneft date back to the end of the 19th century. In 1889, for example, oil exploration began on Sakhalin.

The main assets of NK Rosneft were created during the Soviet period, when the full-scale development of new oil and gas fields began. In the 1990s, numerous enterprises of the fuel and energy complex and other related enterprises of the state sector of the economy were merged into vertically integrated companies modeled on the world's largest corporations -
with their subsequent partial or full sale to private investors. Most of the oil industry has been privatized. The state-owned oil and gas assets were managed by the state-owned company Rosneft, which in September 1995 was transformed into the open joint-stock company Oil Company Rosneft.

During the 1998 crisis, Rosneft faced serious financial and operational difficulties: a drop in production due to a high depletion of the resource base, extremely low utilization of refining capacities, and a decrease in retail sales.

In 2002-2004, the Company began to recover its positions by acquiring new licenses and expanding the geography of its activities. In 2002, Rosneft obtained a license for the development of the Kaigansko-Vasyukansky area (Sakhalin-5 project), in 2003 - a license for the Veninsky area (Sakhalin-3 project). The oil company OJSC Severnaya Neft was acquired, which significantly strengthened the position of Rosneft in Timan-Pechora, as well as the Anglo-Siberian Oil Company, which holds a license to develop the Vankor field in Eastern Siberia.

In 2004, a new stage in the development of the Company began. In a short period, it has significantly increased efficiency corporate governance, carried out serious work on the consolidation of oil-producing and refining assets, and improved financial discipline. Already in 2005, Rosneft took the leading position among Russian oil companies in terms of production volumes.

In 2006, Rosneft shares were first listed on the London Stock Exchange. The total amount of the offering amounted to $ 10.7 billion - this is the fifth largest IPO in the world and the largest among Russian companies. The Company was trusted by such global energy players as BP and SINOPEC, which bought large blocks of shares; about 150 thousand Russian individuals also became shareholders of Rosneft.

As a result of the acquisition of a number of oil and gas assets in Russia, oil reserves and production volumes, oil refining capacities were significantly increased, and the retail network expanded. In 2007, Rosneft already provided more than 20% of the total oil production in the country, producing over 100 million tons of oil.

Despite the global economic crisis at the end of 2008, the Company once again became the leader in terms of production growth rates among Russian and international competitors. Work continued to optimize and improve the efficiency of all areas of activity; unfavorable market conditions at the end of the year became one of the incentives for this work. The company has achieved significant results in improving the corporate governance system and increasing the level of information transparency.

In 2009, the largest field in Eastern Siberia, Vankorskoye, was brought into commercial operation. The successful development of the field has made Vankor the largest production project in the modern history of the Russian oil industry and made it one of the top ten oil projects in the world.

In 2010, fundamental changes took place in the management policy, and a renewal of the Company's strategy was initiated. The program of modernization of oil refining enterprises was activated in order to meet the requirements of the Technical Regulations for the quality of motor fuels. Subsoil use rights were obtained in a number of new promising areas, including on the Russian Arctic shelf. Stakes in four refineries in Germany were acquired, thanks to which the company's total refining capacity increased by more than 20% - to 61.6 million tons. By the results of the year, the most high rate absolute increase in oil production among Russian companies.

In 2011, the Company continues to actively replenish its resource base. In particular, two licenses were obtained upon the discovery of deposits, for the Baikalovsky block in the Krasnoyarsk Territory and for the Buzerovsky block in the Samara Region, and two certificates of establishment of the fact of the discovery of the V. Lisovsky and Sanarsky in the Irkutsk region. The discovery of deposits in extremely difficult geological conditions has become possible thanks to the use of innovative methods and the modernization of geological exploration technology.

In 2011-2012, unprecedented agreements were signed with ExxonMobil, ENI, Statoil on joint work on the shelf of the Russian Federation.

In 2013, Rosneft becomes the world's largest public oil and gas company following the completion of the acquisition of TNK-BP. BP becomes the largest minority shareholder in NK Rosneft with a 19.5% stake.

In 2014, despite the crisis in the oil market, Rosneft once again confirmed the status of the leading Russian oil and gas corporation, the largest taxpayer of the Russian Federation, providing a significant part of all tax revenues to the consolidated budget of the Russian Federation, and one of the leaders of the global oil and gas industry in general. ... During this year, the main events in the industry were associated with projects carried out with the participation of the Company. This is the successful completion of exploratory drilling at the new Pobeda field in the Kara Sea, and the discovery of the Kara oil and gas province, and the commissioning of the first well on the world's largest drilling platform Berkut in the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk, and the start of production using a unique drilling rig. Hawk "on Sakhalin on the Northern Chaivo.

The most striking event of 2014 was the discovery of a large oil and gas province in the Kara Sea, the explored resources of which are comparable in volume to the current resource base of Saudi Arabia. The discovery significantly increases the mineral and raw material potential of Russia and for a long time will allow the country to remain among the leaders in oil and gas production. The new field was given a symbolic name - "Victory". The first well alone made it possible to put on the balance sheet the total initial recoverable reserves of 130 million tons of oil and 396 billion cubic meters of gas.

At the 18th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, dedicated to the topic of building confidence in an era of transformations, Rosneft signed a record number of agreements (more than 50), which both expanded the previously reached agreements with Russian and foreign partners and opened new horizons for cooperation in all areas of the Company's business ...

In January 2015, Rosneft started oil production at the Arkutun-Dagi field using the Berkut drilling platform, the largest in the world. The production volume at the field upon reaching the planned capacity will reach 4.5 million tons per year. In March, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of shares in the SANORS holding (CJSC Novokuibyshevskaya Petrochemical Company). The synergistic effect of integration will strengthen the vector of petrochemical development and increase the added value of production.

The research expedition "Kara-winter-2015", organized by the Company with the participation of the "Arctic Research and Design Center" and specialists of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute", has become the largest in terms of volume and scope of work in the Arctic expedition in the world over the past 20 years.

Integral privatization deal

In 2016, Rosneft not only demonstrated strong operating results, but was also able to provide significant support to the Russian budget through the implementation of the privatization transaction and tax deductions. The main success of Rosneft, undoubtedly, was the completion of an integral deal to privatize a 19.5% stake in the company and a controlling stake in Bashneft, as a result of which the state received 1.04 trillion rubles (in general, the company's payments to the budget for 2016 year exceeded 3 trillion rubles). According to Igor Sechin, the privatization of the Company's shares made it possible to ensure the total receipt of funds in the budget in the amount of 30% of all privatization revenues of Russia since 1991 ”.

"This deal was a tectonic shift in the way investors perceive the company," Wood Mackenzie said in a report. "Rosneft has made a breakthrough in its international strategy." It is no coincidence that at the final press conference in 2016, President Vladimir Putin called Rosneft "one of the most efficient energy companies in the world." According to analysts, the deal became the largest in the global oil and gas industry in a year and served as proof that investing in Russia is profitable.

The powerful synergistic effect that the merger of Rosneft and Bashneft will give will certainly contribute to the development of the Russian economy. The effect is due to the optimization of mutual oil supplies, transportation and logistics costs, a decrease in the cost of drilling services, the joint use of the infrastructure of producing assets, modern technologies and know-how. The earliest possible monetization of this effect is guaranteed by Rosneft's successful experience in integrating TNK-BP. “We will work to maximize the synergy effect,” promised Igor Sechin at the annual meeting of shareholders. - In the first two quarters of 2017 alone, the synergistic effect from the integration of Bashneft in cash amounted to more than RUB 40 billion. "

Capitalization growth

In 2016, the value of Rosneft shares on the Moscow Stock Exchange increased by almost 60% (this indicator is not only higher than market indices, but also significantly exceeds those of the main Russian competitors). In the first half of the year, Rosneft, for the first time in its history, became the largest company in Russia by market capitalization. In December, the company's market capitalization exceeded 4 trillion rubles. The quality of Rosneft's assets, as well as the emergence of new professional investors as shareholders, were highly appreciated by the market.

Industry experts have repeatedly pointed to the fundamental underestimation of Rosneft, which is also exacerbated by the country factor and politically motivated sanctions. However, in the long term, in their opinion, the company has enormous potential for further capitalization growth thanks to the activities of all business areas: production, refining, oilfield services and trading. This is stated in the reports of the largest investment banks, which predict an increase in the cost of Rosneft's global depositary receipt (GDR) to $ 9 per share and note that the capitalization of $ 100 billion, which was before the crisis in the 2000s, is quite achievable.

“The competitive advantage of Rosneft is explained, first of all, by the record number of highly profitable new fields that will be commissioned, which contributes to the generation of free cash flow and, as expected, significant dividend payments,” notes Bank of America. Almost all leading analysts recommend buying Rosneft shares, including, noting the significant potential for synergies from the integration of the acquired assets of Bashneft.

Geological exploration and production

In 2016, the company again achieved growth in performance in all major areas. Another milestone in hydrocarbon production has been conquered - 265 million tons of oil equivalent. e. over the year (an increase of 4.3%). The main positive growth factors were the integration of Bashneft's assets in October 2016, the commissioning of production capacities at the Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye and Suzunskoye fields, increased efficiency at mature assets, and the implementation of an intensive drilling program reliably backed by a well-developed block of its own services.

Rosneft surpasses its competitors in terms of the efficiency of its geological exploration work. As of January 1, 2017, the Company's recoverable oil and condensate reserves of the AB1C1 + B2C2 category amount to 12.2 billion tons and 7.6 trillion m3 of gas. In 2016 alone, the Company discovered 13 fields and 127 new deposits with total reserves of 207 million toe. by categories AB1C1 + B2C2. The replacement rate for hydrocarbon reserves according to the Russian classification was 126%. Building up the resource base is one of the key priorities of the Company.

The scale of seismic exploration in 2016 increased by 58%. At the end of 2016 onshore, Rosneft completed 2D seismic works in the amount of 2.8 thousand linear meters. km and 3D seismic works - 7.9 thousand sq. km, showing an increase of 27% and 29%, respectively. Completed testing of 85 exploratory wells with 80% efficiency.

The volume of production drilling for the year increased by 35% to 9.3 million meters. The commissioning of more than 2.6 thousand new wells became a new record for the company, which is 43% more than in 2015. Moreover, the share of horizontal wells was 32% in 2016. At the end of 2016, the number of operating drilling rigs reached 280 units (+ 26% compared to 2015). Currently, Rosneft's own divisions perform more than 50% of drilling, exploration and well completion operations.

At the end of 2016, Rosneft put into pilot and commercial development 37 fields with total recoverable oil reserves of more than 500 million tons, including large fields - Vostochno-Messoyakhskoye in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Suzunskoye in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Naulskoye in the Nenets Autonomous District, named after O .AND. Moskovtsev in KhMAO. The company operates extremely efficiently at mature assets, applying advanced technologies in the field of drilling, stimulation of production and improving the efficiency of oil recovery.

Rosneft pays great attention to the development of hard-to-recover reserves. The era of "light" oil reserves is coming to an end, but Russia has unlimited potential in the field of TRIZ. It was the successful development and application of new technologies, including horizontal drilling methods, that allowed the Company to start efficiently developing hard-to-recover oil reserves, the production of which increased 15 times in 2016.

The share of Rosneft in oil production in the Russian Federation is about 40%, and in world production - over 5%. The active development of the exploration and production area in the near future will provide the Company with up to 98% of the success rate of exploration work, a fundamental increase in the technological success of production drilling and sidetracking while maintaining economic efficiency... Rosneft plans to increase the annual production level to 30 million tons of oil by 2022 through organic growth.

"Our strategic advantage - Igor Sechin notes, - huge traditional onshore oil reserves in regions with developed infrastructure. Our strategic prospects are colossal shelf reserves. Our analysis shows that the existing reserves allow us to produce 500 million tons of oil more in 20 years than the existing technical plans suggest. But this can only be done if the efficiency of production processes is increased. "

Among the key measures proposed by the Company are an increase in the commercial drilling rate, the use of multi-stage hydraulic fracturing, an increase in the share of horizontal well drilling to at least 40%, an increase in the efficiency of internal services, the use of standard solutions in construction processes, a revision of standard solutions in favor of innovative ones.

Rosneft's new strategy will expand opportunities in oilfield services. The company plans to invest in IT solutions for drilling. “We understand,” Sechin asserts, “that the future in well construction lies in the large-scale use of highly automated drilling complexes, in the roboticization of construction processes, in the development of technologies for completing high-tech wells of complex architecture. These are ultra-long horizontal, horizontally branched and multilateral wells ”.

Rosneft's total investment in 2016 amounted to RUB 750 billion. They were mainly aimed at increasing production drilling in Western Siberia and developing new projects. According to Igor Sechin, Rosneft plans an investment program in the amount of RUB 1.1 trillion for 2017. The company's priority will be the development of new promising fields in Russia: Suzunskoye, Lodochnoye, Russkoye, Kuyumbinskoye, Yurubcheno-Tokhomskoye, Srednebotuobinskoye (Taas-Yuryakh project), as well as gas assets of ROSPAN, Kharampura, Kynsko-Chaselsky fields. An investment program is planned for 2018 in the amount of approximately RUB 1.3 trillion.

Offshore projects

The company is the largest subsoil user on the Russian shelf: Rosneft holds 55 licenses for areas of the Russian continental shelf. The hydrocarbon resources in these areas amount to about 41.5 billion tons of oil equivalent.

Rosneft has implemented a large-scale program for geological exploration of subsoil areas on the shelf and has more than doubled its license obligations. In the 2016 field season, Rosneft completed 2D seismic surveys in the Barents, Pechora, Kara, East Siberian, Chukchi and Laptev Seas in the amount of more than 33 thousand linear meters. km. Also, more than 4 thousand sq. km of 3D seismic work.

In 2017, Rosneft began drilling ahead of schedule in the Khatanga license area. The exploratory drilling of the northernmost well on the shelf of the Eastern Arctic was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a teleconference with the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin. By preliminary estimates the resource potential of the Laptev Sea is about 9.5 billion tonnes of oil equivalent. Based on the results of the preliminary analysis of the core sampled from the Tsentralno-Olginskaya-1 well, the Head of State was reported on the discovery of a large oil field. Coring showed high oil saturation with a predominance of light oily fractions, which confirmed the geological model developed by Rosneft specialists. “We are on the verge of opening a new oil and gas province. This group of fields with convenient logistics to the Asian market will become the most efficient and extremely attractive project in the company's portfolio, ”Igor Sechin said. In the next five years, Rosneft plans to increase investments in the development of the Arctic shelf by 2.5 times - up to 250 billion rubles.

Refining

Rosneft has 18 oil refineries in Russia and abroad. In 2016, refining volumes at the Company's Russian refineries increased by 3.3%, and at foreign ones - by 4.8%. The yield of light oil products in the past year increased and reached 56%, the refining depth increased to 71.2%. The decrease in fuel oil production at Rosneft's Russian refineries by almost 15% was accompanied by an increase in the production of Euro-5 class gasoline and diesel fuel by more than 1.5 times.

“The main strategic objective of the company, - said Igor Sechin in a speech at the shareholders' meeting, - will be to increase margins along the entire value chain. In a highly competitive global market, it is important to “get closer” to the end consumer. This is the only way Rosneft will retain premium sales and respond as quickly as possible to changes in market conditions. Therefore, the Company will prioritize the development of processing assets in developed and growing consumer markets, the creation of trading and sales hubs. Rosneft assigns a special role to petrochemicals in its strategy. The company expects global demand for petrochemicals to grow faster than GDP growth and consumption of petroleum products. And this will create additional prospects for this line of business. Rosneft aims to increase the share of oil and gas chemistry to 20% of the total refining capacity of Rosneft. And this goal is quite achievable, especially considering the fact that investments will be implemented with the attraction of project financing, as well as qualified partners with necessary technologies, developed sales channels ”.

Innovation

In 2016, 44.1 billion rubles were allocated for innovative development of Rosneft. A set of measures has been implemented to improve the efficiency of scientific and design and innovation activities The Company, including the formation of the Corporate Research and Development Complex (KNPK) as a single unit of the Company on the basis of a number of corporate KNIPI. Today KNPK possesses a powerful infrastructure and research potential: it includes 26 corporate institutes with about 12 thousand employees. KNPK is represented in all regions of the Company's operations, including abroad; KNPK design products cover all business areas: from field development to retail.

It should be emphasized that Rosneft sponsors a large-scale scientific research program in the Arctic. During the expedition "Kara-summer-2016", organized by the company, for the first time in Russia a unique technology was applied to change the trajectory of icebergs' drift by external influence.

Rosneft expects to move to a new, “digital” operating model. The company agreed with the industry leader - General Electric - to establish a joint venture that will introduce modern digital technologies and new industrial Internet standards at Rosneft assets. The introduction of the latest digital solutions based on the Predix and Meridium platforms will optimize the systems for collecting, processing and analyzing industrial data “from a well to a pistol at a gas station”. Rosneft is betting on the accelerated digitalization of business, industrial Internet technologies, which will fundamentally strengthen the control of material flows and eliminate the factor of human error.

Far Eastern shipyard

On behalf of the President of the country, Rosneft is implementing a large-scale project to create a shipbuilding cluster in the Far East, the core of which will be the Zvezda shipbuilding complex. In September 2016, in the town of Bolshoy Kamen, Vladimir Putin took part in the solemn ceremony of launching the first stage of the shipyard. “We have every reason to believe that in many respects the new enterprise will be better than our main competitors in the world,” said the President of the Russian Federation. As the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, reported to him, all construction and installation work at the main facilities of the first stage was completed in strict accordance with the schedule, and on the open outfitting stocks they are being carried out ahead of the previously approved plan.

The head of state also inspected the area of \u200b\u200binstallation work of the complex, where modern specialized cranes with a lifting capacity of 320 tons were delivered at the end of August 2016. The equipment was manufactured under a joint contract between Zvezda Aircraft Factory and China Heavy Industry Corporation Nantong (CHIC). According to the contract during 2016 - 2017. At the construction site of the Zvezda shipyard, CHIC will supply four cranes with a lifting capacity of 320 tons, four cranes with a lifting capacity of 100 tons, as well as a unique Goliath crane with a lifting capacity of 1200 tons. Cranes of this type make it possible to simultaneously build several vessels from large blocks.

In June 2016, between JSC DVZ Zvezda, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. (BSIC) a contract was signed for the construction and supply of a 40,000 tonne transport and transfer dock, which is being created for the construction of marine facilities at the shipyard.

It is worth recalling that the main tasks for the construction of new shipyards in the Far East were formulated by the President back in May 2009 during a working meeting in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. It is this moment that should be considered the beginning of the creation of a shipbuilding cluster, which is being formed on the basis of the Far Eastern Center for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair (DTSSS). The production of ships will begin this year, with a pilot order scheduled to be completed in 2019.

As for the Zvezda product line, the enterprise will produce high-tech, large-tonnage vessels, offshore drilling, exploration and production platforms, and service vessels, including ice class vessels. In order to gain experience in modern shipbuilding and subsequently localize production in Russia, DTSSS plans to create joint ventures with foreign technology partners: to develop projects for ice-class vessels with Damen, drilling platforms with Keppel and ship equipment with General Electric.

Rosneft secured a pilot order for the shipyard: four multifunctional ice-class supply vessels and five Aframax-type green tankers operating on NGV fuel and meeting high environmental standards.

In December 2016, the establishment of the Eastern Mining and Metallurgical Company was announced - a joint venture between Rosneft and the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC). In accordance with the agreements reached, the JV will become an anchor supplier of large-format steel plates to meet the long-term needs of the Far Eastern shipyard.

By 2024, the shipyard will create more than 7,500 highly skilled jobs, and Rosneft has already allocated funds for the construction of six residential buildings.

At the launch ceremony for the first stage of the shipyard, Vladimir Putin said that the development of civil shipbuilding and the commissioning of new production facilities is one of the key strategic tasks to strengthen the industrial potential of the Russian Far East. The President noted the importance of implementing Rosneft's comprehensive strategy in the Far East, within the framework of which not only hydrocarbon production capacities are increased, but also scientific research is supported, social projects are being implemented and infrastructure is being created for high-quality growth. “All this reflects a solid, responsible approach to business development, sets a good benchmark for other large Russian and foreign companies on investing in the Far East, ”said Vladimir Putin.

Bet on trading

In 2016, Rosneft significantly strengthened its position in the international market. The company is successfully diversifying its supplies between the western and eastern directions. At the end of 2016, annual contracts were signed for the supply of oil to Belarus with a total volume of up to 10.2 million tons and to Germany - up to 7.3 million tons. At the international economic forum in St. Petersburg, the contract with PKN Orlen for the supply of oil to the Czech Republic was extended for three years. The contract provides for the possibility of increasing supplies to PKN Orlen up to 15.8 million tons of oil and is an example of Rosneft's successful strategy in traditional sales markets. In the promising Asian market, Rosneft's leading position will strengthen the unprecedented contract with PetroVietnam for the supply of up to 96 million tons by 2040 in the amount of $ 36 billion, also signed at the SPIEF. Overall, Rosneft is significantly increasing supplies to the east. In 2016, they increased by 8.6% - to 43.1 million tons. As a result, Russia has caught up with Saudi Arabia in terms of oil supplies to China, while three years ago Saudi companies supplied China with twice as much raw material as Russian ones.

In early 2017, Rosneft and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an additional agreement to increase oil transit through Kazakhstan and extend the term of the contract signed on June 21, 2013, until December 31, 2023. Deliveries in the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.12.2023 will amount to 70 million tons, while the total volume of oil supplies under the above contract, taking into account the previously sent 21 million tons, will reach 91 million tons over a 10-year period. Rosneft has a successful track record of implementing contracts for the supply of oil to China. In the period from 2005 to 2016, the Company entered into a number of long-term contracts, under which Rosneft has already delivered more than 186 million tons of oil for an amount exceeding $ 95 billion. Also, Rosneft is one of the leaders in the supply of petroleum products to the PRC, from 2009 to 2016 the Company supplied about 30 million tons of petroleum products worth more than $ 19 billion.

To provide feedstock for its growing network of international refineries, Rosneft is expanding its oil trading activities and is seeking to conclude more supply deals with other producers. Rosneft is interested in having many options in trading - to be able to choose the way of selling each supply of raw materials - from transportation by oil pipelines or sea routes to blending or oil refining. Unlike Shell, BP and Total, which produce less crude than Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company relies on partnerships with trading companies to ship a significant share of its exports by sea. Singapore's Trafigura Group, Switzerland's Glencore and other traders conclude supply agreements with Rosneft. At the same time, Rosneft competes with them for deals with other producers in order to ensure the activities of its own oil trading ”. Experts talk about potential subsidiary Rosneft in Geneva Rosneft Trading SA in the rapidly growing international trading market. In 2016, the first ever LNG shipment was delivered to Egypt. That contract became for Rosneft entrance ticket to the world LNG trading market - after all, as a rule, to participate in international tenders, it is necessary to confirm the experience of organizing LNG supplies.

In the competition for the oil market, two strategic approaches have developed: price dumping and the establishment of partnerships with oil importers. The main adherent of the "price war" was Saudi Arabia, which abandoned any restrictions on oil exports and set the price of its oil deliberately below the market price. The Russian strategy for the oil market is completely different. Rosneft is expanding its presence, establishing partnerships and creating joint ventures with key oil consumers, building global integral chains. “Russia is not going to play the role of an extra in the current price war,” Igor Sechin said. - As you know, Rosneft has the lowest operating costs: $ 2.5 per barrel (excluding taxes and transportation), and we are rapidly increasing our share of the world oil market. For 10 years (from 2005 to 2015), our share in the oil market (plus condensate), according to the IEA statistics, increased from 1.9% to 4.9%, and after the acquisition of Bashneft - to 5.4%.

“Perhaps the most striking example of a global integral approach,” Sechin continues, “is Rosneft's entry into the Indian market, which world leaders in the oil and gas industry consider one of the most attractive and promising. In order to gain a foothold in it, Rosneft used the transcontinental business format. The company has formed alliances with Indian partners, involving them in the development of promising oil and gas provinces in Russia. This laid the foundation for an energy bridge between the countries. Then the Russian company entered the capital of India's leading refinery located in the city of Vadinar. Due to its active presence in the Venezuelan market, Rosneft will be able to obtain significant synergy from the processing of heavy feedstock from Latin America at the facilities of the Indian plant. In addition, a modern refinery with a comprehensive infrastructure will create an energy hub in Vadinar, supplying oil products to the markets of Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean. It is these global integral chains that are at this stage the best way to survive the competition. "

Integral approach

During 2016, Rosneft successfully implemented a strategy to attract strategic partners - leaders of the global oil and gas industry - to promising Russian projects. This strategy allows for efficient exploration and production of hydrocarbons. In addition, thanks to the integral approach, the consumer countries are interested in obtaining guaranteed volumes of raw materials, in the extraction of these volumes, their transportation and delivery to the final consumer. This approach minimizes the risks of the participants, guaranteeing them a profit along the entire production chain. By attracting investments from partners, Rosneft offers them complex, hard-to-reach projects that require long-term investments. However, oil consumers are interested in partnerships due to possible resource scarcity and price fluctuations. And in the end, they share the risks - both of the exploitation of the fields and the sale of products.

A striking example of this approach is the involvement of Indian partners in the development of East Siberian deposits. Rosneft quickly completed the implementation of a project to create a unique international energy hub based on the so-called Vankor cluster. The share of Indian state-owned companies in it was 49.9%. At the same time, Rosneft retained a majority stake in the capital, control over the company's operating activities, as well as 100% control over the overall infrastructure of the cluster. The achieved estimate of the Vankor project is $ 3.4 per barrel of hydrocarbon reserves (according to the 2P category of the PRMS methodology) and reflects the high potential of the project's resource base.

An international consortium was also created on the basis of Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, which, in addition to Rosneft (50.1% of shares), included BP and state-owned Indian oil and gas companies. Recently, Rosneft has been increasingly acting as a Eurasian integrator. And experts do not exclude that in this case we are talking about a trend, a kind of strategy for the creation of Eurasian energy hubs.

The entry of Indian companies into Russian projects complemented the breakthrough to India, where Rosneft received a stake in the Vadinar refinery with infrastructure including a deep-water port that can accept VLCC class ultra-large tankers , and a network of 3 thousand petrol stations. A significant factor that determined the choice in favor of this asset was the high level of technological equipment of the plant (11.8 according to the Nelson index), which makes it possible to ensure the outstanding economy of the project (the average refining margin over the past six months is over $ 10 per barrel). The capacity of the Vadinar refinery is 20 million tons, the refining depth is 95.5%. Commenting on the conclusion of the deal, Igor Sechin said: “This is a historic event for the company - Rosneft is entering one of the most promising and fastest growing markets in the world. The project creates unique synergistic opportunities both for the existing assets of the Company and for the planned projects of Rosneft, and opens up prospects for increasing the efficiency of supplies to the markets of other Asia-Pacific countries, such as Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Australia. " According to recently published data from the International Energy Agency, India will become the main global driver of growth in the motor fuel market: by 2040, the consumption of motor fuel in this country will double to 10 million barrels per day, and in 2017, gasoline consumption will grow by 12%.

Vladimir Putin called for building a Eurasian partnership on the basis of a "broad integration contour." And Rosneft is putting into practice the President's ideas. Another example of the company's integrated approach was the agreement with Beijing Gas on the acquisition by Chinese partners of a 20% stake in PJSC Verkhnechonskneftegaz. The deal was valued at about $ 1.1 billion. As a result of the transaction, a vertically integrated structure of cooperation will be created: the Chinese company acquires a stake in one of the largest production fields in Eastern Siberia with a developed infrastructure and access to the ESPO pipeline, and Rosneft, in turn, gets the opportunity to enter the domestic gas market of China using swaps gas supplies.

The total funds received by Rosneft as a result of deals for the entry of partners from India and China into promising Russian projects amount to about $ 6 billion.

Global energy company

In general, in 2016 Rosneft continued to strengthen its positions in the global oil and gas market through effective M&A transactions. The "Indian scheme" has begun to be implemented with Indonesia: memorandums on the acquisition of stakes in Russian fields were signed with the oil company Pertamina. In accordance with the memorandum for the Severnoye Chayvo project (Sakhalin Island), the parties intend to agree on legally binding documentation for the acquisition of Pertamina up to a 20% stake in the project. Another memorandum assumes that Pertamina will enter the project for the development of the Russkoye field in a share of up to 37.5%.

At the same time, an agreement was signed on the creation of a joint venture with the aim of implementing a project for the construction of the Tuban oil refining and petrochemical complex in the eastern part of Java (Indonesia). A feasibility study of the project is currently being developed. After the development of the feasibility study, a decision will be made on investments in the construction of the refinery. The design capacity of the primary processing of the Tuban complex is planned at the level of 15 million tons / year. The project provides for the construction of a large catalytic cracking unit for fuel oil, as well as a petrochemical complex. It is assumed that the complex will be able to receive supertankers of the VLCC class with a deadweight of up to 300 thousand tons. The document regulates the distribution of shares among the JV participants (Rosneft - 45%, Pertamina - 55%).

It should be noted that the Tuban refinery construction project is strategic for Indonesia (new refineries have not been built in the country since 1994). At the same time, Indonesia is a rapidly growing market, and projects for oil refining and petrochemicals in this country are of great interest. In the coming years, the authorities are planning to create powerful refineries in Indonesia (according to the government's plans, oil refining capacity by 2020 should increase from 1 million barrels to 2.3 million barrels per day).

During his visit to Jakarta, Igor Sechin noted that now Indonesia imports oil products produced from Russian oil mainly from South Korea and Singapore, and it is important for Rosneft to supply oil to the country directly. “Ten years ago, Indonesia produced 71 million tons of oil, today it is 38 million tons, and by 2030 it will be 11 million tons,” the head of Rosneft said at the Russia-ASEAN summit. - And this is with the growth of consumption. Of course, this creates conditions for our interest in supplies, participation in processing, and trading. "

Observers note that the planned projects of Rosneft in the field of refining and petrochemicals in the region are original and, at the same time, will complement each other. The creation of a joint venture with Pertamina, the entry into the share capital of Essar Oil Limited and the construction of the Tianjin refinery in China are elements of a long-term strategy. Their implementation will create unique synergies in the region and give impetus to the rapid development of Rosneft's trading division.

Rosneft also plays an important role in European oil refining. At the end of 2016, during the restructuring of a joint oil refining and petrochemical complex in Germany with BP, Rosneft acquired shares (from 24% to more than 54%) in three German refineries. As a result, the Company controls over 12% of the German oil refining industry (with a capacity of 12.5 million tons per year), which makes it the third player in the German oil refining market.

In Russia, the Company also plans to develop joint oil refining projects with foreign partners. In September 2016, Rosneft and China's Sinopec signed a legally binding agreement within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum to prepare a joint preliminary feasibility study for a project for the construction and operation of a gas processing and petrochemical complex in Eastern Siberia. It is assumed that the annual capacity of the first stage of the complex will be 5 billion cubic meters of raw natural gas with the production of up to 3 million tons of high-tech polymers and petrochemical products for sale mainly in the Russian and Chinese markets. The resource base of the project is the oil and gas fields of Rosneft in the Yurubchensky cluster in Eastern Siberia. In addition, Rosneft and ChemChina will work on the Eastern Petrochemical Company project, the parties intend to create a joint venture for its implementation (the parties' stakes in JV Rosneft - 60%, ChemChina - 40%).

Rosneft is also expanding its presence in promising production projects abroad. Rosneft and PDVSA agreed to increase their share russian company in the Petromonagas JV up to 40%. An important event for the company was the agreement, according to which it acquires from Eni up to 35% in the concession agreement for the development of the Zohr field, as well as 15% in the project operator - a joint venture between Eni and EGAS: Petroshorouk. The cost of the stake acquired by Rosneft is $ 1.125 billion. The company becomes a participant in the project to develop the largest hydrocarbon field in Egypt together with the world majors - their long-standing partners: Eni and BP. Upon completion of transactions between Rosneft, Eni and BP, the shareholder structure of the concession agreement may be formed as follows: Eni - 50%, Rosneft - up to 35%, BP - up to 15%.

The discovery in August 2015 of this field was a significant event for the oil industry - according to Eni, the 100 sq km open area could contain up to 30 trillion cubic feet of dry gas (5.5 billion boe) in situ. And this despite the fact that the reserves of the Israeli Lefiafan field, about the discovery of which the world media have long made noise, are from 14 to 20 trillion cubic feet. The successful development of Zohr will supply Egypt's natural gas needs for decades, as it accounts for more than a third of the country's gas reserves. This deal is a true example of Western and global business seeking to break the sanctions blockade and establish close relations with the largest oil company in the Russian Federation, inviting it to participate in a joint project to develop the Mediterranean shelf. According to experts, participation in the development of a unique production asset will provide Rosneft's trading division with a significant amount of physical resources, which, in turn, will provide the company with the opportunity to actively expand its presence in the markets in the Middle East - Europe region.

In 2020, after the Zohr project reaches the planned capacity, Rosneft's gas production will increase by 9 billion cubic meters per year. The effectiveness of the monetization of this volume of gas is ensured by the proximity to important sales markets. Rosneft also plans to export gas from this project to the European market and the Middle East, depending on the economic attractiveness of export options. Moreover, it should be noted that 9 billion cubic meters is just a basic development model without additional exploration potential. Participation in the project will allow the company to gain invaluable experience in the development of offshore fields (Rosneft is already implementing a project to develop gas fields on the Vietnamese shelf and has sufficient technological experience). In addition, as experts in the oil market note, following the closing of the deal, Rosneft will be able to increase its geological reserves of hydrocarbons by about 250 billion cubic meters.

In general, for most players in the oil market, Rosneft's integrated approach, which implies cooperation with partners along the entire production chain - from production to processing hydrocarbons and petrochemicals - now seems to be the ideal way to stay competitive.

The results of 2016 indicate that the role of Rosneft in the processes taking place in the oil market is colossal. The privatization deal for the sale of 19.5% of the company's shares helped to attract the attention of potential investors to the Russian oil industry. Strong operating results strengthened Rosneft's position as one of the leaders in the global energy industry, which will play a significant role in reformatting the oil and gas market.

Over the past five years, Rosneft has transformed from a regional player into a global major, the largest public company in terms of production, reserves and business scale, as well as the most efficient in terms of operating costs. In order to consolidate its successes, the Company proposes to adopt a new strategy and a new organizational and staff structure. The basis of the strategy should be a qualitative change in the company's business due to a technological breakthrough, full-scale use of digital technologies in all areas of activity, constant work to reduce costs, increase the marginality of the processing segment due to the flexibility of the basket.

As part of the new strategy, Rosneft will move to a holding management structure with the separation of business segments responsible for the financial result. As a "pilot" project, it is proposed to implement a project to spin off Rosneft's retail business. This will significantly increase the capitalization of RN-Retail and attract strategic investors. Already, almost 90% of retail has been consolidated into a single sub-holding, and the consolidation of retail assets has proven its effectiveness. Rosneft expects that the holding structure will allow more efficient allocation of financial resources, higher return on capital invested and increased profitability for shareholders.

According to Igor Sechin, the implementation of the Rosneft 2022 strategy will allow the Company to increase its capitalization by 25-30%. “The main thing is a significant increase in efficiency and competitiveness. We have set a goal for the company to achieve long-term cost price at the level of Saudi Aramco. This guarantees Rosneft and the Russian oil and gas industry leadership in the global energy sector, ”sums up the head of Rosneft.

history of the companyApple (Apple) started in a garage, like many other American startups. Its founders are two friends: and Steve Wozniak.

Friends began collecting computers and selling them. After several dozen of them were sold, they formalized their business officially, creating a company Apple Computer, Inc... It happened April 1, 1976.

Until 2007, the company bore its original name. Since 2007 "Computer ”was removed, as the company began to work not only in the field of computers and software, but also household appliances.

"First personal"

The advantage of a computer from Apple was that he was actually the "first personal" for real. Older brother « Altair " knew how to handle only the most basic functions. Jobs and Wozniak succeeded in creating a more advanced car.

Apple II

After the initial success, Apple quickly gained popularity. Released in 1977 AppleII became truly massive. At first it was released with an 8-bit operating system, and a little later with a 16-bit one.

Late 70s - early 80sXX century Apple II and their modifications were the most widespread personal computers (PCs) in the world. More than 5 million Apple II computers have been sold worldwide.

Listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange

In 1980, one of the largest in the history of the stock market (exactly at that time), the conclusion of the company to the initial IPO - Apple Computer Inc. started selling its shares. The company's shares are traded on one of the world's largest stock exchanges - NASDAQ.

Apple's hard stage

In the spring of 1981, Steve Wozniak got into a plane crash and was forced to retire for a while. In addition, there were problems with sales. Apple III. All this led to the fact that Jobs was simply forced to lay off about 40 Apple employees.

Journalists and all media have already sentenced businessApple "to death". The story of the company was about to end ...

New president of the company

In early 1983, Steve Jobs was invited to the position of president of Apple John Scully, who at the time held a similar position in "PepsiCo"... Jobs found it difficult to manage the company's affairs on his own.

As a founder, Jobs deeply regretted the company's failure. He perceived them as his own, so misunderstandings and various frictions began to arise between him and Scully.

The first Macintosh

In 1984, Apple introduced a new 32-bit computer for the first time Macintosh... It was a real breakthrough in the history of the company's development. It was thanks to the Macintosh that the company mainly made a profit in the future.

For two decades, the company has been producing Macintosh computers based on Motoro processorslla, equipped with a proprietary operating system. This platform is marketed exclusively under the Apple brand without any third party licenses.

Crucial moment

In 1985 2 important events happened in the history of Apple's development:

1. US President Ronald Reagan presented the founders of the company with medals for a powerful technological breakthrough.
2. Steve Jobs, at odds with the company's board of directors, resigned.

Lingering fall

After the departure of the founder and spiritual leader the company continued its decline... Although various measures have been taken to release products other than PC, further development they didn't get it.

By 1997, Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy - her debts amounted to almost $ 2 billion.

The return of Steve Jobs

Perhaps the history of Apple would have ended at the turn of the millennium, if not for the return to the post of the head of the company's founder - Steve Jobs.

In 1997 he returned, and already at the end of 1998 the company began to show the first small profit, having removed the stigma of “bankruptcy”. It was a real success for Apple and Jobs.

Into the new millennium with new technologies

On the threshold of the third millennium, a revolution in the world of new technologies was in full swing. Steve Jobs "caught the wave" and began to bring Apple to new product markets:

• In 2001, the company introduced an audio player iPodwhich quickly gained popularity.
• In 2003 the company opened iTunes Store is a popular online supermarket for digital audio, video and game content.
• And in 2007 it entered the market of mobile phones with touchscreen iPhone smartphone.

New peaks

Having noticeably crowded out competitors and taking a solid place in the market, Apple continued and continues its development, which, however, declined in 2016.

In 2010, the market was launched iPad tablet.

The release and sale of products such as iPod, iPhone and iPad, which were in high demand around the world, improved Apple's financial position, bringing in more profits for the company.

Important milestones in Apple's development history in recent years

• In August 2011, Apple first became the most expensive company world by market capitalization, beating the oil company ExxonMobil, until the end of the year they changed places more than once, but since January 2012, Apple has managed to gain a foothold in the first line for a long time.
• On September 21, 2012, Apple shares reached their maximum during trading - $705,07 per share, capitalization amounted to $ 662.09 billion.
• In 2013, Apple Corporation was the first to start mass production of 64-bit ARM-architecture chips, releasing 64-bit 2-core Apple A7 microprocessor.
• In 2014, the corporation introduced its first personal, wearable device - Apple Watch... On November 13, 2014, Apple again broke its record in the stock market - its capitalization was $ 663.43 billion.

In 2016 at the annual conference WWDC-2016 Apple has announced that the brand's devices will operate on the principle of end-to-end encryption: information will be encoded on the device that transmits it and decoded by the receiving gadget.
It is planned to use this when making voice calls, as well as on the new messenger.

Introduction

market sale desktop notebook

Computers with the image of a seven-colored apple have long ceased to be a wonder. They can now be found almost everywhere - in publishing houses, advertising agencies, design studios. The high popularity of Apple computers among layout designers and designers can be explained by many reasons, but high quality, the user-friendly interface and the reliability of the equipment of this brand were noted by everyone. Apple has experienced ups and downs throughout its history. Technical developments based on IBM PowerPC processors have been replaced by computers on the Intel x86 platform, and Apple is preparing to release even more powerful computers equipped with a reliable and convenient MacOS operating system. Distinctive features of these computers are high computing power, ease of installation and configuration. However, in recent years, the company has become better known not as one of the largest computer manufacturers, but as a manufacturer of mobile devices and gadgets.

A brief history of Apple

Thirty years ago, on April 1, 1976, Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak founded a small computer company. The third co-founder, Ronald Wayne, fearing the venture had no future, sold his 10 percent stake in the company for $ 800. The firm, destined to become the world leader in the digital player market and the largest computer manufacturer, was headquartered in a small garage.

In those days when computers were expensive and were the prerogative of large scientific centers and scientists. Huge machines, sometimes occupying two rooms of free space, and consuming energy like a small factory could hardly claim to be widespread among people. But still, even then a young engineer Steve Wozniak, dreamed of having his own personal computer, conceived to make computer technology available to everyone. This principle has become the main concept of Apple.

Influenced by his friend, Wozniak continued to create the first personal computer, which they assembled together in Jobs's father's garage. They succeeded in making their dream come true thanks to the fact that by this time the first inexpensive microprocessor appeared on sale, which became the basis of the new personal computer Apple I. The first batch of 50 computers was purchased by Paul Terrell, the owner of the computer store Byte Shop. The sale went surprisingly well, which allowed the friends to pay off their debts and put the young Apple on its feet.

In the following time, several more modifications of the Apple computer were created, it was not easy to find money for their production and leave the garage. The financiers at the time did not want to invest in this venture. But one rich man was found and believed the guys. He gave them money and opened a line of credit at the bank. With this money, it was possible to expand the company, hire personnel and establish the production of computers.

Even then, the sales of computer equipment from Apple broke all records, not only in the United States, but abroad. The company quickly grew rich, and the value of its shares grew steadily. But in 1981, after a terrible plane crash, Steve Wozniak left the company. Left alone, Steve Jobs decided to hire an experienced manager, John Scully. After that, Apple gained real fame with the first Macintosh computer equipped with a mouse and a graphical operating system with the usual icons on the desktop.

The Macintosh was then relatively cheaper than all its previous prototypes, so it quickly gained acceptance among people. Successful advertising and strong sales quickly made Sitwa Jobs famous, for many he became the embodiment of the American Dream.

A determining factor in the rapid spread of Macs among the population was the ability to develop software for it by third parties. The emergence of a large number of different programs contributed to the fact that the computer has become indispensable in solving many problems. Aldus, which was later renamed Adobe, then came up with the first page-layout program, Pagemaker, which revolutionized typography. All publishers began to buy computers for themselves, so since then it has been considered that the Macintosh is a computer for designers. In addition, computers have become an integral part of the educational process; they were purchased in large quantities by institutes, universities and schools.

Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak became the fathers of the idea of \u200b\u200bthe personal computer in every home, which Bill Gates subsequently brilliantly brought to life. Since the beginning of its activity, Apple has adhered to a strict policy so that the operating system developed by it is installed only on computers of its production. In turn, they supplied computers only in finished form and carefully protected them from counterfeits and copies. This was the main reason that over time they ceased to occupy a leading position in the computer sales market, but at the same time they were able to maintain their individuality.

During Apple's heyday, there were many clones of existing Macs that could run their software. But the company's activities have always been aimed at protecting their rights and tried to make it not profitable to produce clones. They succeeded, but attempts to develop a computer somehow resembling the Macintosh continue now, although they are certainly very far from their quality.

The widespread availability of cheaper and more affordable computer equipment from other manufacturers and the dominance of the software market from Microsoft have made Macintosh computers not for everyone, but for the elite. But, one way or another, those who have become users of technology from Apple love their Macintosh computers and recommend them to their friends. The company's slogan that technology should be convenient first of all for people is respected to this day, and many of its ideas are taken as the basis for everything that is sold on the computer market today.

Some time after such a resounding success, Steve Jobs had a conflict with John Scully over the way of running the business. The dispute settled in favor of Scully, who managed to get the majority of votes in the city council and kick Jobs out of the company. This was a big blow for Steve. After leaving Apple, Steve Jobs organized new company NeXT, which was engaged in the creation of computers for the needs of scientists and educational institutions. He focused on developing a fundamentally new operating system.

At the same time, he bought an animation studio from Lucas, which later became Pixar and became the most successful animation studio in Hollywood. It was on it that the first full-length animated film in computer 3D format was created. Later it was bought by Walt Disney, and Steve Jobs himself became the owner of 7.4% of Disney shares.

At this time, IBM appeared on the computer technology market, which became the main competitor to Apple. Business at Apple did not matter, it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the question of who would buy it first was already being decided. Then the board of directors decided to return to the company its founder, Steve Jobs, who agreed to re-head Apple and quickly put things in order. He significantly cut the lineup of Macintosh computers, reduced staff and production, introduced the world to the Macintosh computer with a completely new tenth version of the Mac OS operating system, based on his own development of OpenStep.

In the meantime, Apple has begun to gain momentum again, financial affairs have improved significantly, and its permanent leader Steve Jobs continues to delight its fans with technical innovations such as a super-thin laptop, iPod and iPhone. Apple conquers the market for selling music and video via the Internet.

More than 30 years after its founding (as of June 2010), the company was valued at about $ 65 billion (Financials).