<Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out - of - date information . Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . (January 2009) </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article's factual accuracy may be compromised due to out - of - date information . Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . (January 2009) </Td> </Tr> <P> Apple Inc., formerly Apple Computer, Inc., is a multinational corporation that creates consumer electronics, personal computers, servers, and computer software, and is a digital distributor of media content . The company also has a chain of retail stores known as Apple Stores . Apple's core product lines are the iPhone smart phone, iPad tablet computer, iPod portable media players, and Macintosh computer line . Founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, and incorporated the company on January 3, 1977, in Cupertino, California . </P> <P> For more than three decades, Apple Computer was predominantly a manufacturer of personal computers, including the Apple II, Macintosh, and Power Mac lines, but it faced rocky sales and low market share during the 1990s . Jobs, who had been ousted from the company in 1985, returned to Apple in 1996 after his company NeXT was bought by Apple . The following year he became the company's interim CEO, which later became permanent . Jobs subsequently instilled a new corporate philosophy of recognizable products and simple design, starting with the original iMac in 1998 . </P>

When did the first apple product come out