What does Apple do?
Apple Inc. designs and sells the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, and runs services such as the App Store, iCloud and Apple Music 1. In the financial year to 26 September 2026 it reported record revenue of $478.8 billion (about ₹45.2 lakh crore) and net income of $132.2 billion (about ₹12.5 lakh crore) 2. On 30 October 2026 it was the world’s most valuable listed company, worth $5.03 trillion (about ₹475 lakh crore) 5.
Apple is based at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, and its shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker AAPL 1. John Ternus has been chief executive since 1 September 2026 4. Rupee figures on this page use the RBI reference rate of ₹94.40 to the dollar on 5 November 2026 17.
How does Apple make money?
Apple earns most of its money from hardware, and about half from one product 3. In the 2025 financial year the iPhone brought in $209.6 billion (about ₹19.8 lakh crore) of Apple’s $416.2 billion in sales, or about 50% 3. Services, which include the App Store, iCloud, AppleCare and subscriptions, were the second-largest line at $109.2 billion, about 26% 31. Wearables, home and accessories made $35.7 billion (9%), the Mac $33.7 billion (8%) and the iPad $28.0 billion (7%) 3.
Growth picked up in 2026: in the September 2026 quarter iPhone revenue rose 17% to $57.6 billion and services reached a record $31.6 billion 2. The Americas was Apple’s largest region in 2025, with $178.4 billion of sales, followed by Europe and Greater China 3. See Apple products and revenue by segment.
Who owns Apple?
Apple is a public company with no controlling shareholder, and index-fund managers are the largest holders 78. Vanguard Capital Management reported owning about 1.1 billion shares, or 7.48%, on 31 March 2026 7. At 30 June 2026 BlackRock, Vanguard Capital Management and State Street were the three largest institutional holders by value 8.
Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway still held Apple as its largest stock investment at 30 June 2026 9. See who owns Apple.
Who runs Apple?
John Ternus, an engineer who joined Apple’s product design team in 2001 and later ran hardware engineering, became chief executive on 1 September 2026 4. He succeeded Tim Cook, chief executive since 2011, who is now executive chairman 4. Apple announced the change on 20 April 2026, and the board approved it unanimously 4. Arthur Levinson, chairman for the previous 15 years, became lead independent director 4. Kevan Parekh is chief financial officer 19. See Apple CEO and leadership.
How much is Apple worth?
Apple was worth $5.03 trillion (about ₹475 lakh crore) on 30 October 2026, ahead of Nvidia at $4.93 trillion 5. It took back the title of world’s most valuable company from Nvidia in July 2026 6. On 28 July it was valued at about $4.94 trillion against Nvidia’s $4.83 trillion 6. Australian Associated Press reported that investors favoured Apple’s restrained capital spending while rivals poured money into AI data centres 6. See Apple revenue and market cap.
Apple in India
India has become a major production base for the iPhone 10. Foxconn and Tata Electronics, which assemble iPhones in India, contributed almost equally to record iPhone exports of about ₹2 lakh crore in the year to March 2026, based on 11 months of commerce ministry data 10. iPhones made up more than 75% of India’s smartphone exports 10. See also the Tata Group.
Apple’s Indian sales company reported revenue of ₹1,03,853 crore in the year to March 2026, up 31%, and net profit of ₹5,311 crore, according to filings with the Registrar of Companies 11. Apple runs six of its own stores in India: Apple BKC and Apple Borivali in Mumbai, Apple Saket in Delhi, Apple Hebbal in Bengaluru, Apple Koregaon Park in Pune and Apple Noida 12. Borivali, the sixth, opened on 26 February 2026 12.
When was Apple founded?
Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple on 1 April 1976 in Los Altos, California 1. Wayne sold his share back to the other two for $800 twelve days later 1. Apple was incorporated in Cupertino on 3 January 1977 and listed on Nasdaq on 12 December 1980 1. Jobs left in 1985 and returned in 1997 after Apple bought his company NeXT 1. The iPod (2001), iPhone (2007) and iPad (2010) followed, and Cook succeeded Jobs as chief executive on 24 August 2011 1. See the history of Apple.
What legal challenges does Apple face?
In March 2024 the US Justice Department and 16 state and district attorneys general sued Apple, alleging it illegally kept a smartphone monopoly by restricting rival apps, smartwatches, messaging and digital wallets 13. Apple said the suit was “wrong on the facts and the law” and that it would defend itself 14. A federal judge refused to dismiss the case in June 2025 18.
In April 2025 the European Commission fined Apple €500 million (about $587 million, or ₹5,540 crore) under the Digital Markets Act for stopping app developers from steering users to cheaper offers outside the App Store 15. Apple appealed in July 2025, saying the decision went “far beyond what the law requires” 15.
Apple also earns an estimated $20 billion a year (about ₹1.9 lakh crore) from Alphabet‘s Google for making Google the default search engine in Safari, a 2022 figure from court documents 16. In September 2025 a US judge let Google keep paying for placement but limited such deals to one year 16.
See also Microsoft, technology and software and all companies.
