Apple Inc. (AAPL): How It Built the Computer Age but Lost the Computing Market

By this point, however, the IBM PC had begun to take off. Eventually, 5 million Apple IIs were produced by the time production ceased in 1993 and the Macintosh took complete control of Apple’s computer lineup. By this point, an estimated 125 million IBM PCs and PC clones had been sold since that device’s release in 1981.

By the end of the 1990s, virtually every company even loosely associated with the IBM PC standard had seen its share price shoot to the moon, and four of the largest PC-era companies had earned a place on the Dow Jones Industrial Average . None of the original trinity saw much long-term success with their early ambitions. Commodore failed in 1994. Radio Shack left the computing market around the same time Apple discontinued the Apple II. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) itself enjoyed only tepid share-price growth during a period of incredible gains everywhere else. Its stock roughly doubled from its IPO to the discontinuation of the Apple II at a time when a double was underperformance, and it took the rehiring of Steve Jobs and the launch of the iMac for Apple’s stock to finally surpass the Dow’s threebagger gains from 1994 to the end of 1999. It seems the first-mover advantage means little when it comes to technology — or, at least, when it comes to personal computers.

The article How Apple Built the Computer Age but Lost the Computing Market originally appeared on Fool.com.

Fool contributor Alex Planes holds no financial position in any company mentioned here. Add him on Google+ or follow him on Twitter @TMFBiggles for more insight into markets, history, and technology.The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, International Business (NYSE:IBM) Machines, and RadioShack (NYSE:RSH).

Copyright © 1995 – 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.