Apple Inc. is a U.S. multinational company that manufactures operating systems, smartphones, computers, and multimedia devices, headquartered in Cupertino, California. It is considered one of the Big Tech technology companies, along with Amazon, Google and Meta. The company was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in Cupertino, Silicon Valley, California, to develop and sell Wozniak's Apple I personal computer, although Wayne sold his stake over the next twelve days. It was incorporated as Apple Computer Inc. in January 1977, and sales of its computers, including the Apple II, grew rapidly. Within a few years, Jobs and Wozniak had hired a staff of computer designers and had a production line. Apple went public in 1980 with immediate financial success. Over the years, he has distributed new computers with innovative graphical interfaces - such as the Macintosh 128K in 1984 - and advertisements for his products received wide acclaim from the critic