A few of Apple’s contemporary startups, as Tandem Computer, Convex Computer, all wound up being bought. So why Apple was never considered an acquisition target?

Answered by Robert Dowell at http://www.snowybear.com, a former guide at the National Museum of Computing.

HI there,

First let me introduce myself. My name is Robert Dowell and I’m one of the guides at the National Museum of Computing, who deals with the Apple kit.

From my perspective, the answer to your question is how the industry has viewed Apple, always as an outlier and never as a conformer. In many ways this is the same question that could be levelled at HP, which funnily enough also started in a garage in what is now silicon valley. Both companies have always been seen as outliers in an industry dominated by truculent and sometimes contradictory standards.

Turning to Apple, the story starts when the company was incorporated back in 1977. Steve Wozniak had just finished the design of his new computer, the Apple 2. When it hit the market it was an unparalleled success selling better than anyone could have expected, which in turn quickly established a uniquely Apple brand in an environment that was hungry for new and exciting innovations. By the beginning of the 80’s, Apple had attained a level of public awareness that would help them through darker years during the late 90’s.

By 1981 IBM entered the market with the IBM Personal Computer, using Microsofts new DOS operating system. This machine ticked all the boxes for business and as a bonus it had an IBM logo slapped on the side. It was a very basic machine, but due to the IBM name it started at $1295, rising to a healthy $3500 when you added all the necessary peripherals to make it useful in business. The problem for IBM and Apple to a lesser degree was that people began to purchase so many IBM PC’s that IBM found it hard to cater to the demand, which coincided in 1982 with the introduction of the first IBM PC clones. For Apple this was a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand it took the pressure off Apple to develop a new machine and come out with something better, and on the other hand, every IBM PC and compatible computer sold, was one less Apple 2 sold.

Then in 1979, Apple gained a temporary break with a killer App. It was the first microcomputer based spreadsheet program called VisiCalc. Not only did it lend a level of authenticity to Apple computers in business, it also sold a lot of Apple 2’s.

For the first 4 years of the 1980’s, Apple would continue to sell what many would start to see as the ageing Apple 2 platform, relying on VisiCalc and other apps to keep the sales rolling in. However, what most people did not know was that Apple had been pushing a large amount of the profits in to two new machines that would not only change how people perceived a computer, but also what business would expect of them. The two machines in question were the Lisa and the Macintosh. All of this was made possible because Jeff Raskin convinced Steve Jobs that he needed to visit the Parc facility of Xerox out at Palo Alto. By 1983, the Apple Lisa had hit the market to positive reviews regarding its usability and revolutionary UI, but dismay at its cost. However, almost in parallel, Apple had been developing another machine, the Macintosh. When this hit the market a year later in 1984, it came in at about 25% the price of the Lisa. Not only did this garner better attention from the public, but it started Apple on a new track. Initially the Macintosh did not do well, only achieving moderate sales, and as time went by, the public and later businesses began to demand better and easier ways of working on computers, always citing the Apple way of working.

In mid 1985, Microsoft released a new addition to their DOS operating system, called Windows. Not only did this attempt to give the user of the IBM PC compatibles a similar experience to the Apple Macintosh, it also did it with the existing IBM PC base. This allowed everyone to keep their old IBM PC computers, whilst emulating the Apple way of doing things. As the years progressed, Microsoft improved Windows whilst Apple improved the MacOS and so the animosity between Apple and IBM PC compatible users began to rise. This healthy level of attrition between the two opposing camps spurred the respective companies to keep innovating their products.

For Apple the beginning of a new revolution happened in 1987, when the new Apple Macintosh Plus was paired up with a Laser Printer and an application called Pagemaker. It was then that Desktop Publishing was born, and it also firmly cemented Apple’s reputation as the computer used by serious graphics users. It was also at this time, that Apple had lost both its founders and was largely on its own.

By 1997, Apple had lost its way and was living off past glories, with far too many products on its books and not enough innovation. As a last ditch effort Steve Jobs was convinced to come back to Apple and help steer the sinking ship. Due to its earlier successes, people listened when one of its founders took the reigns. Within 3 years Apple was again seen as a rising star in the public eye, and by the year 2010, it was out in front with two new paradigms of computing that changed not only the company, but the world. These were the know familiar iPhone and iPad.

At all times throughout Apple’s history, they have been seen as an innovating force. An unfortunate square peg in a round hole, that helps the industry along with new ideas, but will always remain an uncomfortable fit for any other company. Like other companies that dominate the world of computing today, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, they lead because of what they do. As of 2022, Apple has enough cash reserves to survive as a company for the next 50 years without selling another product, putting them in a very healthy position for the future.

So To paraphrase one of their old adverts - Apple is the computer company for the rest of us, which probably explains why they have never been purchased.

I hope this helps answer your question, and if you have any other questions please feel free to write in and ask.

Best regards

Robert Dowell