January 8, 2004: The clumsily named iPod+HP, a Hewlett-Packard-branded iPod, debuts at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Shown off by Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, the prototype device is blue, the color used for HP’s branding. By the time it arrives on the market later that year, however, the digital music player is the same shade of white as the regular iPod. The device doesn’t hang around for long, either.
December 22, 2013: After months of false starts, Apple finally secures a deal with China Mobile to bring the iPhone to the world’s largest telecom company.
With 760 million potential iPhone customers in the offing, the deal shapes up as Apple’s most important yet for growing its brand in China. In fact, Apple CEO Tim Cook says the country soon will become the company’s biggest market.
December 16, 1994: Apple Computer inks a licensing deal with Power Computing, allowing the company to produce Macintosh-compatible computers, aka “Mac clones.”
With falling market share, and longtime rival Microsoft steaming ahead thanks to its software-licensing strategy, Apple executives think the only way to compete is for the company to hand over its operating system for third-party Macs. Of course, it doesn’t turn out exactly like that…
November 21, 1985: Following Steve Jobs’ departure, Apple comes close to signing its own death warrant by licensing the Macintosh’s look and feel to Microsoft. The Apple-Microsoft deal — struck by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Apple CEO John Sculley — comes hot on the heels of the Windows operating system’s release.
The pact gives Microsoft a “non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, nontransferable license to use [parts of the Mac technology] in present and future software programs, and to license them to and through third parties for use in their software programs.”
Oh, boy!
November 4, 1997: Apple unveils its plan to open small “store within a store” sections inside CompUSA outlets around the United States.
In a step toward the flagship Apple Stores that would launch four years later, Cupertino-trained employees will staff these mini-stores. The move gives Apple a bit more control over the way its products get displayed and demoed to consumers.
October 2, 1991: As the Cold War comes to an end, hell freezes over a second time as Apple and IBM agree to put aside their differences. Having been bitter rivals for the past decade, the two tech giants host a press conference at the Fairmont hotel in San Francisco to unveil their new partnership.
“We want to be a major player in the computer industry,” Apple CEO John Sculley says. “The only way to do that is to work with another major player.”
Apple should never have entered into the deal that had Google paying billions every year to be the default search engine for iPhone, Mac and iPad. And it’s shameful that it’ll take a court order to finally make Apple do the right thing
A company that claims to carefully protect the privacy of its users shouldn’t be part of an arrangement that steered those users toward Google, whose business is built on privacy violation.
August 6, 1997: In one of the most famous moments in Apple history, Steve Jobs reveals a $150 million Microsoft investment that saved his company from ruin.
Although often presented as an inexplicable gesture of good faith on the part of Microsoft boss Bill Gates, the cash infusion into Apple actually benefits both companies.
July 13, 2006: Apple releases its first activity tracker, the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, which combines Cupertino’s popular music player with a smart pedometer.
The product marks Apple’s first step toward the kind of mobile health-tracking initiatives it will pursue in the following decade — most notably through its iOS Health app and the Apple Watch.
Apple is not paying OpenAI for ChatGPT access in iOS 18, according to a new report. Neither is OpenAI paying Apple for the privilege of integrating its chatbot into millions of iPhones later this year.
A news story sheds light on the high-profile arrangement between the two companies — and details how it is more than about money.
June 4, 1997: Mac clone-maker Power Computing hits its high point — but it’s also the beginning of the end.
The company’s top exec reaches an agreement with Apple CEO Gil Amelio concerning the forthcoming Mac OS 8. The deal allows the company to start making moves toward an IPO as the fastest-growing PC company of the decade. Things don’t turn out very well, though.
April 21, 1995: Rumors swirl that Canon (yes, the Japanese camera company!) might take over Apple in either a partial or complete acquisition.
Speculation grows about a possible deal after Apple reveals its latest earnings, which show big improvement but still fall far short of Wall Street’s expectations.
March 26, 2010: Apple pays up to settle a trademark dispute with Japanese multinational Fujitsu over the name “iPad” in the United States.
It comes two months after Steve Jobs first showed off the iPad, and around a week before the tablet will land in stores. As it happens, it’s not the first time Apple battled over the name for one of its new products.
March 8, 1997: Apple renames the forthcoming Mac OS 7.7 update, calling it “Mac OS 8.” It’s more than just a name change, though: It’s a sneaky sucker punch that ultimately knocks out Mac clones.
Unfortunately for Mac users, the updated operating system does not deliver the total top-to-bottom rewrite promised by Apple’s Project Copland. However, the renaming strategy turns out to be a brilliant (if underhanded) way of getting Apple out of terrible licensing deals.
February 21, 2007: Apple comes to an agreement with Cisco over the iPhone trademark, which Cisco legally owns but Apple wants to use.
Under the agreement, both companies get to use the iPhone trademark on products throughout the world. The two businesses also dismiss outstanding lawsuits against one another, and agree to “explore opportunities for interoperability in the areas of security, and consumer and enterprise communications.”
It’s a classic bit of Steve Jobs steamrolling the opposition.
February 4, 2008: Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly considers buying the search engine Yahoo. Apple is one of several interested companies, following reports that Microsoft offered $44.6 billion for the web portal the previous week.
Nothing ultimately comes of it, but Apple’s interest is later confirmed in an authorized biography of Jobs.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: It sounds like Apple’s partnership with Goldman Sachs is on the rocks. What does that mean for the future of Apple Card?
Also on The CultCast:
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All Apple computers run on chips based on technology licensed from Arm. And it turns out the licensing fee is surprisingly low. Pennies per device.
Apple is one of Arm’s most important customers, and the two have a relationship that goes back to the early 1990s. That’s turned into a sweet deal for the iPhone-maker.
Apple’s partnership with Goldman Sachs for the Apple Card is reportedly coming to an end. The Wall Street Journal says Apple sent a proposal to the bank to exit from the agreement in the next 12 to 15 months.
At the moment, it remains unclear if Apple has zeroed in on another banking partner for Apple Card.
Apple TV+ might be ready to play in the big leagues. Major League Baseball, to be exact. The company reportedly engaged in “substantial talks” with MLB about acquiring the rights to stream games.
If such a deal comes together, it would be a game-changer for Apple’s streaming service.
Google’s deal with Apple, which ensures that it remains the default search engine in Safari across all Apple devices, is the subject of a new class-action lawsuit against both companies and their CEOs, Sundar Pichai and Tim Cook.
A lawsuit filed in California this week alleges that the two Silicon Valley giants have a non-compete agreement in internet search that violates U.S. antitrust laws and prevents Apple from launching a search engine of its own.
Nissan is the latest automaker mentioned as a possible manufacturing partner to produce the rumored Apple car.
Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s CEO, was asked about teaming with Apple at a press conference Tuesday. Uchida responded that Nissan should be looking to “work with companies that are knowledgeable, with good experience, through partnership and collaboration,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
That’s not exactly a “yes,” but it’s certainly not a “no,” either.
Apple reportedly issued “tough new terms” for suppliers who sell products in its physical and online stores, The Telegraph reports.
Apple and Hyundai may have had the business equivalent of a high school relationship in the past few weeks. First they were just friends, then going steady, and now they appear to have broken up — and Apple’s got the hots for someone else. All on a suitably compressed timeline, of course.
Bloomberg reported the breakup Sunday, saying Apple has paused discussions with Hyundai and affiliate Kia Motors about building an electric car. Apple’s now supposedly talking to other automobile companies about a possible deal.
Apple could be poised to sign a $3.6 billion deal with Kia Motors to build Apple Car, Bloomberg reports Wednesday, citing Korean news outlet DongA Ilbo.
The report says Apple and Kia, which is owned by Hyundai, could sign a deal as soon as February 17. It would then aim to “introduce Apple cars in 2024,” with a possible target of produce 100,000 electric vehicles per year, according to DongA Ilbo.