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Apple Computers
The success of Apple computers can be attributed to the vision of one man, Steve Jobs, who was the main architect of its innovative growth. Jobs was a visionary who, along with Steve Wozniak, founded Apple in 1976. Jobs’s vision was to change the world through technology and innovation. Although Apple pioneered the first easy to use computers and personal computing devices and set in motion a computing revolution, but as competitors like IBM entered the market, Apple started losing its market share. The slow performance of its Mac and lack of compatible software limited its sales despite its industrial design and technical elegance. By 1985, company was in serious crisis and Jobs was removed from an operational role by the board members. Apple continued to struggle for many years under different CEOs, who tried unsuccessfully to revive the company using different strategies like forging alliances, cost cutting etc. In 1997 Steve Jobs retuned as the CEO and moved quickly to shake things up. Jobs restructured Apple by reducing headcount, closing facilities and outsourcing manufacturing tasks and also made several dramatic moves like incorporating Intel microprocessors inside the Mac. According to Schlender (2005), Jobs also launched innovative products like iMac, OS X operating system and iPod product line, based on company’s original culture to produce high end products that fuse fashion, technology, and reverence for personal creativity and are user friendly. As stated by Schlender (2005), Apple is growing faster than its competitors because it improves its hardware and software more often than anyone else. Jobs turned Apple around mainly through the force of his own strong leadership