APPLE is a prominent hardware and software company best known for its series of personal computers — the ‘I’ devices, such as the iPad, iPhone etc. Apple is also well known for the innovative strategies it employs to market its products.

Introduced in 1984, the Macintosh was the first widely sold personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI). That feature and others — such as an improved floppy drive design, and a low-cost hard drive that made data retrieval faster and more reliable — helped Apple cultivate a reputation for innovation, which the company still enjoys today.
Apple was founded by Steven Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. Jobs and Wozniak had been friends in high school; and, in 1975, were members of The Homebrew Computer Club, a now-legendary group where electronics enthusiasts met to discuss the Altair 8800 (the only personal computer available at the time) and other technical topics.
Wozniak designed his own microcomputer, and offered his plans to Hewlett-Packard (HP), where he was then working as an engineering intern. After HP turned him down, Wozniak joined forces with Jobs to manufacture personal computers in Jobs’s garage.
That endeavour started out as a shoestring operation, but quickly became successful. The pair introduced a relatively modern-looking computer in a plastic case in 1977, and incorporated as Apple Computer that same year. By 1980, the company had grown to include over 1000 employees.
Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 after a succession of CEOs and Macintosh models failed to gain much success in the marketplace in his absence. His introduction of the colourful iMac (which sold over 6 million units) brought the company back to profitability. In 2001, Apple released the first generation of iPods, which included media jukebox software called iTunes. Apple introduced an online media store as part of iTunes, initially selling only music for .99 cents per song. Eventually, the iTunes Store grew to include videos, television shows and music videos. Some of Apple’s top devices are:
Apple II: The Apple II was released in 1977, just 12 months after the very first Apple computer, the Apple I.
The iMac: Three years after his return to Apple in 1998, Jobs urged the world to “think different”. But no one anticipated the iMac, the computer that kick-started Apple’s fortunes and propelled the company to where it is today.
The iPod: Unveiled over a decade ago, the iPod is the one device that transformed Apple from a computer company into a mass-market electronics giant; and would later spark a revolution in digital music. Although many who bought it had to hack their computers to store music on it, the first-generation iPod was a stylish MP3 player boasting a 10-hour battery life and space for 1,000 songs. “Listening to music will never be the same again,”
The iPod Nano: Apple reinvented the Nano in September 2010 with its sixth iteration. At 21.1g the new Nano was 15g lighter than its predecessor, and had half its height.
The iPhone: Less than half a decade after the iPod, Apple was already the biggest name in digital music. After months of rumour and anticipation, Apple unveiled, in January 2007, what would quickly become its killer product. The phone was a hit with techies and non-techies alike. With the fifth incarnation, unveiled earlier this month, the excitement has not yet dissipated.
The iPad: Introduced in January 2010, when it was dubbed “the oversized iPhone” with a 9.7-inch screen, Apple’s lean-back device would be the saviour of the media industry. The ipad was revealed…
Apple opened its first retail store on 19 May 2001. As of July this year, Apple had opened more than 350 stores worldwide, with the largest being in London. Most thought Apple’s move into physical retail space was madness, but they did not foresee that the philosophy, design and layout of the stores would encapsulate what drives Jobs. Customers have since flocked to the Genius Bar.
Apple Computer became Apple Inc. in 2007.
Apple unveiled its latest product — the iPhone 5, the hotly anticipated 6th generation iPhone — at a special event on September 12. The iPhone 5 is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than iPhone 4S, and comes packed with new features and improvements, such as a taller 4-inch display, faster A6 chip, support for faster 4G LTE networks, improved battery life, Face Time HD camera, and more.
The first iPhone 5 benchmarks have already hit Geekbench. Based on the benchmark results, it seems to be screaming fast.

I have no inside information or insight; but historically, Apple’s product improvements have strongly broadcasted where the company is going in the future.
Here are some ideas which I believe will help Apple’s stock.
1.    An aggressive product roadmap.
2.     A huge iPhone 5 upgrade.
3.    Apple television in 2013.
4.    Carrier subsidies to continue.
5.    Tablets will be bigger than PCs.
6.    The largest registered user base in the tech world.
7.    Apple cars might hit the market in a few years, now all drives will be inspector gadget!
Having gone through the above, are you convinced enough to get yourself a ‘Third I’?