Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 2,1, Berlin School of Economics and Law (IMB), course: MBA Seminar, language: English, abstract: The story of Apple Inc. started in 1976 and is a quite successful one. The chief character Steve Jobs just recently resigned as Managing Director of this multinational company. These most recent news caused the apple stocks to drop which shows how much impact the cofounder Steve Jobs has on the company and its destiny. Apple Inc. is an American multinational company, which provides personal computers, software and especially consumer electronics. Nowadays this company hired 49 400 employees worldwide.1 Additionally towards the end of the year 2010 the worldwide annual sales equal $65.23 billion1. Apple Inc. has been so successful in these last decades thanks to its fresh, imaginative way to contemplate and do its business. This winning mixture of extraordinary products, great style and design, grand strategy, innovative marketing, inviting communications is basis of this papers analysis. Apple owes its overwhelming victory in the last years to the IPhone and to the smart IPod and ITunes product combination. In the 5 years between 2003 and 2008 the Apple share value increased 25 times, from $7.5 to $180 per share. In July 2008 prices, before the US Financial Crisis, Apple stock market capitalization was $160 billion. In January 2010 Apple shares topped the $210 mark. Just recently Apple was found to be the most valuable company of the world with share prizes of $373. This simple number shows the immense success apple achieved during the past years. 2 [...] 1 http://phx.corporateir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Njc1MzN8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1 2 http://flatworldbusiness.wordpress.com/flat-education/intensify/case-apple-inc/