Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and manufactures consumer electronics and software products. It was established in Cupertino, California, on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne, [1] [2] and was incorporated on January 3, 1977. [3] [4] The company's hardware products include the Macintosh line of personal computers, the iPod line of portable media players, the iPad line of tablets, the iPhone line of smartphones, the Apple TV line of digital media players, and the Apple Watch line of smartwatches. Apple's software products include the macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software. [5] As of December 2024 [update] , Apple is publicly known to have acquired more than 100 companies. The actual number of acquisitions is possibly larger as Apple does not reveal the majority of its acquisitions unless discovered by the press. Apple has cofounded two half-equity partnerships and purchased equity stakes in three preexisting companies, and has made three divestments. Apple has not released the financial details for the majority of its mergers and acquisitions.
Apple's business philosophy is to acquire small companies that can be easily integrated into existing company projects. [6] For instance, Apple acquired Emagic and its professional music software, Logic Pro, in 2002. The acquisition was incorporated in the creation of the digital audio workstation software GarageBand, an integral part of the iLife software suite, and now one of the leading digital audio workstations on iOS and macOS. [6]
The company made its first acquisition on March 2, 1988, with its purchase of Network Innovations. In 2013, Apple acquired thirteen companies. Apple's largest acquisition was that of Beats Electronics in August 2014 for $3 billion. [7] Of the companies Apple has acquired, 71 were based in the United States.
In early-May 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook said to CNBC that Apple acquires a company every two to three weeks on average, having acquired 20 to 25 companies in the past six months alone. [8]
Date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References | Derived products | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | March 2, 1988 | Network Innovations | Software | United States | — | [9] | Data Access Language (DAL) |
2 | June 7, 1988 | Orion Network Systems | Computer Software | United States | — | [10] | SNA*ps |
3 | June 27, 1988 | Styleware [note 1] | Computer software | United States | — | [11] | AppleWorks GS, iWork, iLife |
4 | July 11, 1988 | Nashoba Systems [note 1] | Computer software | United States | — | [12] | FileMaker |
5 | January 3, 1989 | Coral Software | Computer software | United States | — | [13] [14] | Macintosh Common Lisp |
6 | February 7, 1997 | NeXT | Unix-like hardware and software platform | United States | 404,000,000 | [15] | Mac OS X/macOS, Darwin, iOS, tvOS, watchOS, audioOS, visionOS |
7 | September 2, 1997 | Power Computing Corporation | Macintosh clones | United States | 110,000,000 | [16] [17] | — |
8 | January 8, 1999 | Xemplar Education | Software | United Kingdom | 4,926,000 | [18] | — |
9 | November 3, 1999 | Raycer Graphics | Computer graphic chips | United States | 15,000,000 | [19] | — |
10 | January 7, 2000 | NetSelector | Internet software | United States | — | [20] | — |
11 | April 11, 2000 | Astarte-DVD Authoring Software [note 2] | Software | Germany | — | [21] | DVD Studio Pro, iDVD |
12 | 2000 (Q4) | SoundJam MP [note 3] | Software | United States | — | [22] | iTunes |
13 | Early 2001 | Bluefish Labs | Productivity software | United States | — | [23] | iWork |
14 | May 11, 2001 | bluebuzz | Internet service provider (ISP) | United States | — | [24] | — |
15 | July 9, 2001 | Spruce Technologies [note 4] | Graphics software | United States | 14,900,000 | [25] [26] | DVD Studio Pro |
16 | December 31, 2001 | PowerSchool | Online info systems services | United States | 66,100,000 | [26] [27] | PowerSchool |
17 | February 1, 2002 | Nothing Real | Special effects software | United States | 15,000,000 | [26] [28] | Shake |
18 | April 4, 2002 | Zayante | FireWire chips and software | United States | 13,000,000 [note 5] | [29] [30] [31] | FireWire |
19 | June 11, 2002 | Silicon Grail Corp-Chalice [note 6] [note 7] | Digital effects software | United States | 20,000,000 [note 8] | [30] [32] | Motion |
20 | June 20, 2002 | Propel Software | internet and network optimization for wireless carriers | United States | — | [33] | Safari |
21 | June 21, 2002 | Prismo Graphics [note 7] | Special-effects titling software for film and video | United States | 20,000,000 [note 8] | [30] [34] | LiveType |
22 | July 1, 2002 | Emagic | Music production software | Germany | 30,000,000 | [26] [35] | Logic Pro, GarageBand |
23 | March 2005 | SchemaSoft | Software | Canada | — | [36] | iWork |
24 | April 2005 | FingerWorks | Gesture recognition company | United States | — | [37] [38] | iOS |
25 | October 16, 2006 | Silicon Color | Software | United States | — | [39] | Color |
26 | December 4, 2006 | Proximity | Software | Australia | — | [40] | Final Cut Server |
27 | April 24, 2008 | P.A. Semi | Semiconductors | United States | 278,000,000 | [41] [42] | Apple SoC |
28 | July 7, 2009 | Placebase | Maps | United States | — | [43] | Apple Maps |
29 | December 4, 2009 | Lala.com | Music streaming | United States | 17,000,000 | [44] | iCloud, iTunes Match |
30 | January 5, 2010 | Quattro Wireless | Mobile advertising | United States | 275,000,000 | [45] | iAd |
31 | April 27, 2010 | Intrinsity | Semiconductors | United States | 121,000,000 | [46] | Apple SoC |
32 | April 27, 2010 | Siri | Voice control software | United States | — | [47] | Siri |
33 | May 10, 2010 | Gipsy Moth Studios | Application Regionalization Firm | United States | 12,000,000 | [48] | iPod, iPhone, iPad |
34 | July 14, 2010 | Poly9 | Web-based mapping | Canada | — | [49] | Apple Maps |
35 | September 20, 2010 | Polar Rose | Facial recognition | Sweden | 29,000,000 | [50] | iOS |
36 | September 14, 2010 | IMSense | High-dynamic-range (HDR) photography | United Kingdom | — | [51] | iOS |
37 | August 1, 2011 | C3 Technologies | 3D mapping | Sweden | 267,000,000 | [52] | Maps |
38 | December 20, 2011 | Anobit | Flash memory | Israel | 500,000,000 | [53] | iPod, iPhone, iPad |
39 | February 23, 2012 | Chomp | App search engine | United States | 50,000,000 | [54] | App Store |
40 | June 2, 2012 | Redmatica | Audio | Italy | — | [55] | Logic Pro, GarageBand |
41 | July 27, 2012 | AuthenTec | PC and mobile security products | United States | 356,000,000 | [56] | Touch ID |
42 | September 27, 2012 | Particle | HTML5 Web app firm | United States | — | [57] | iCloud, iAd |
43 | 2013 | Novauris Technologies | Speech recognition | United Kingdom | — | [58] [59] | Siri |
44 | 2013 | OttoCat | Search engine | United States | — | [60] | App Store |
45 | March 23, 2013 | WiFiSlam | Indoor location | United States | 20,000,000 | [61] | Apple Maps |
46 | July 19, 2013 | Locationary | Maps | Canada | — | [62] | Apple Maps |
47 | July 19, 2013 | HopStop.com | Maps | United States | — | [63] | Apple Maps |
48 | August 1, 2013 | Passif Semiconductor | Semiconductors | United States | — | [64] | Apple SoC |
49 | August 13, 2013 | Matcha | Media discovery app | United States | — | [65] | TV app for Apple TV and iOS |
50 | August 22, 2013 | Embark | Maps | United States | — | [66] | Apple Maps |
51 | August 28, 2013 | AlgoTrim | Mobile data compression [ citation needed ] | Sweden | — | [67] | iOS |
52 | October 3, 2013 | Cue | Personal assistant | United States | 50,000,000 | [68] | Siri |
53 | November 24, 2013 | PrimeSense | Structured-light 3D scanners | Israel | 360,000,000 | [69] | Face ID, TrueDepth [70] [71] |
54 | December 2, 2013 | Topsy | Analytics | United States | 200,000,000 | [72] | App Store, Apple Music, iTunes Store [73] |
55 | December 23, 2013 | BroadMap | Maps | United States | — | [74] | Apple Maps |
56 | December 23, 2013 | Catch.com | Software | United States | — | [74] | Siri |
57 | December 2013 | Acunu | Database analytics | United States | — | [75] | iCloud |
58 | January 4, 2014 | SnappyLabs | Photography software | United States | — | [76] | Camera |
59 | February 21, 2014 | Burstly | Software testing | United States | — | [77] | TestFlight, App Store |
60 | May 2, 2014 | LuxVue Technology | microLED displays | United States | — | [78] | MacBook Pro (Apple silicon), iPad Pro (5th generation) |
61 | June 6, 2014 | Spotsetter | Social search engine | United States | — | [79] | Apple Maps |
62 | June 29, 2014 | Swell | Music streaming | United States | 30,000,000 | [80] | Apple Music |
63 | June 29, 2014 | BookLamp | Book analytics | United States | — | [81] [82] | iBooks |
64 | August 1, 2014 | Beats Electronics | Headphones, music streaming (Beats Music) | United States | 3,000,000,000 | [7] | iPhone, iTunes, Apple Music |
65 | September 23, 2014 | Prss | Digital magazine | Netherlands | — | [83] | Apple News [84] |
66 | 2014 | Dryft | On-Screen Keyboard | United States | — | [85] | iOS Keyboard |
67 | January 2015 | Camel Audio | Audio plug-ins and sound libraries | United Kingdom | — | [86] | Logic Pro |
68 | January 21, 2015 | Semetric | Music analytics | United Kingdom | 50,000,000 | [87] [88] | Apple Music, iTunes Store |
69 | March 24, 2015 | FoundationDB | Database | United States | — | [89] | iMessage Backend |
70 | April 14, 2015 | LinX | Camera | Israel | 20,000,000 | [90] | iPhone Camera |
71 | April 2015 | Coherent Navigation | GPS | United States | — | [91] | Apple Maps |
72 | May 2015 | Metaio | Augmented reality | Germany | — | [92] | ARKit |
73 | September 2015 | Mapsense | Mapping visualization and data collection | United States | 25,000,000-30,000,000 | [93] [94] | Apple Maps |
74 | September 2015 | VocalIQ | Speech technology | United Kingdom | — | [95] | Siri |
75 | September 2015 | Perceptio | Machine learning, Image recognition | United States | — | [96] | Face ID, Animoji, Photos |
76 | November 2015 | Faceshift | Realtime Motion Capture | Switzerland | — | [97] [98] | Animoji |
77 | January 7, 2016 | Emotient | Emotion recognition | United States | — | [99] [100] [101] | Face ID, Animoji [102] |
78 | January 28, 2016 | LearnSprout | Education technology | United States | — | [103] [104] | Classroom iPad App |
79 | January 29, 2016 | Flyby Media | Augmented reality | United States | — | [105] | ARKit |
80 | February 3, 2016 | LegbaCore | Platform security | United States | — | [106] | Exposed firmware exploit in Apple computers. [106] |
81 | August 5, 2016 | Turi | Machine learning | United States | 200,000,000 | [107] [108] [109] | Xcode, Core ML |
82 | August 22, 2016 | Gliimpse | Personal health info collection company | United States | — | [110] [111] [112] | HealthKit, CareKit, ResearchKit |
83 | September 22, 2016 | Tuplejump | Machine learning | India | — | [113] [114] | Siri, CoreML |
84 | December 1, 2016 | Indoor.io | Indoor mapping and navigation | Finland | — | [115] | Maps, Project Titan |
85 | March 23, 2017 | Workflow | Automation and scripting app | United States | — | [116] [117] | Shortcuts |
86 | May 8, 2017 | Beddit | Sleep tracking hardware | Finland | — | [118] [119] | iOS, watchOS, Apple Watch |
87 | May 13, 2017 | Lattice Data | Artificial intelligence | United States | 200,000,000 | [120] | Photos |
88 | June 16, 2017 | SensoMotoric Instruments | Eye tracking hardware and software | Germany | — | [121] | ARKit |
89 | September 22, 2017 | Vrvana | Augmented reality head-mounted display | Canada | 30,000,000 | [122] | ARKit |
90 | September 29, 2017 | Regaind | Computer vision | France | — | [123] | Photos |
91 | October 2017 | init.ai | Messaging assistant | United States | — | [124] | Siri |
92 | October 2017 | PowerbyProxi | Wireless charging | New Zealand | — | [125] [126] | iPhone, AirPower |
93 | November 9, 2017 | InVisage Technologies | Quantum dot-based image sensors | United States | — | [127] | iPhone, iPad |
94 | December 5, 2017 | Pop Up Archive | Tools for searching digital spoken words | United States | — | [128] | iTunes, Apple Music |
95 | December 2017 | Spektral | Computer vision, real-time editing | Denmark | 30,000,000 | [129] [130] [131] | Photos, iOS |
96 | 2018 | Laserlike | Machine learning | United States | — | [132] | Siri, CoreML framework |
97 | 2018 | Silk Labs | Artificial Intelligence, home monitoring | United States | — | [133] | — |
98 | 2018 | Tueo Health | Asthma monitoring | United States | — | [134] [135] | — |
99 | December 10, 2017 | Silicon Valley Data Science | Data science, data engineering, analytics | United States | — | [136] [137] | Digital Advertising |
100 | January 2, 2018 | Buddybuild | Continuous integration, debugging, and testing for mobile apps. | Canada | — | [138] [139] | Xcode, TestFlight |
101 | March 12, 2018 | Texture | Digital magazine subscription service | United States | — | [140] | Apple News+ |
102 | August 29, 2018 | Akonia Holographics | Lenses for augmented reality glasses | United States | — | [141] [142] | — |
103 | September 24, 2018 | Shazam | Music and Image recognition | United Kingdom | 400,000,000 | [143] [144] [145] | iTunes, Siri, Apple Music |
104 | October 11, 2018 | Dialog Semiconductor (portions) | Chip development | United Kingdom | 600,000,000 | [146] [147] | Apple silicon |
106 | December 7, 2018 | Platoon | Artist development | United Kingdom | — | [148] [149] | — |
107 | February 15, 2019 | PullString | Speech technology | United States | — | [150] | Siri; Company also known as ToyTalk [150] |
108 | March 21, 2019 | Stamplay | Backend workflow development | Italy | 5,600,000 | [151] | — |
109 | June 25, 2019 | Drive.ai | Autonomous vehicles | United States | — | [152] | — |
110 | July 25, 2019 | Intel's smartphone modem business | Smartphone modems | United Kingdom | 1,000,000,000 | [153] | Apple SoC |
111 | October 3, 2019 | IKinema | Motion capture | United Kingdom | — | [154] | — |
112 | December 12, 2019 | Spectral Edge | Low-light photography | United Kingdom | — | [155] | iPhone |
113 | January 15, 2020 | Xnor.ai | Edge computing, artificial intelligence | United States | 200,000,000 | [156] | — |
114 | Early 2020 | Scout FM | Podcast A.I. | — | — | [157] | Podcasts, Apple Music, ITunes |
115 | March 31, 2020 | Dark Sky | Weather forecasting and app | United States | — | [158] | Weather (Apple), WeatherKit framework |
116 | April 3, 2020 | Voysis | Artificial intelligence/voice assistant | Ireland | — | [159] [160] | Siri |
117 | May 14, 2020 | NextVR | Virtual reality events | United States | 100,000,000 | [161] | Apple Vision Pro |
118 | June 24, 2020 | Fleetsmith | Mobile device management | United States | — | [162] [163] [164] | Apple Business Essentials |
119 | July 31, 2020 | Mobeewave | Payments startup | Canada | 100,000,000 | [165] | iPhone |
120 | August 20, 2020 | Camerai | AR | Israel | — | [166] | Apple Vision Pro |
121 | August 25, 2020 | Spaces | VR startup | United States | — | [167] | Apple Vision Pro |
122 | January 15, 2021 | Curious AI | Core AI startup | Finland | — | [168] | Core ML |
123 | August 30, 2021 | Primephonic | Classical music streaming service | Netherlands | — | [169] | Apple Music Classical |
124 | February 7, 2022 | AI Music | Music production | United Kingdom | — | [170] | Apple Music |
125 | March 23, 2022 | Credit Kudos inc | Fintech | United Kingdom | 150,000,000 | [171] | Apple Card |
126 | June 5, 2023 | Mira Labs | Augmented reality | United States | — | [172] | Apple Vision Pro |
127 | September 5, 2023 | BIS Records | Record label | Sweden | — | [173] [174] | Apple Music |
128 | December 17, 2023 | Datakalab | Data compression and image analysis | France | — | [175] | |
129 | March 14, 2024 | DarwinAI | Artificial intelligence | Canada | [176] [177] | ||
130 | November 1, 2024 | Pixelmator Team | Digital art and photography software | Lithuania | [178] |
Date | Company | Business | Country | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | General Magic | Early stage of Tablet computer and Cloud technologies | United States | — | [179] |
1992 | Kaleida Labs | AIM alliance multimedia software [note 9] | United States | — | |
March 2, 1992 | Taligent Inc. | AIM alliance operating system [note 9] | United States | — | |
June 1, 1999 | Akamai Technologies | Web site support services | United States | 12,500,000 [note 10] | [180] |
December 18, 2008 | Imagination Technologies | Chip design | United Kingdom | 4,700,000 [note 11] | [181] [182] [183] |
May 12, 2016 | Didi Chuxing | Ridesharing company | China | 1,000,000,000 | [184] [185] |
Date | Acquirer | Target company | Target business | Acquirer country/nationality | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April 22, 1992 | Misys Computer Maintenance | Sign Express Group | Maintenance activities | United Kingdom | 705,000 | [186] |
May 31, 1996 | SCI Systems | Apple Computer-Manufacturing | Computers | United States | — | [187] |
May 25, 2006 | Pearson Education | PowerSchool | Student information system | United States | — | [188] |
April 21, 2010 | Google Inc. | Agnilux Inc. | Information technology services | United States | — | [189] |
Date | Investor | Investor country/nationality | Value (USD) | References |
---|---|---|---|---|
April 2, 1997 | Al-Waleed bin Talal | Saudi Arabia | 115,000,000 [note 12] | [190] [191] |
August 6, 1997 | Microsoft | United States | 150,000,000 [note 13] | [192] [193] |
August 7, 1997 | Grupo Carso | Mexico | 60,650,000 [note 14] | [194] |
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