Some multinational corporations are very big, with budgets that exceed some nations' gross domestic products (GDPs). Multinational corporations can have a powerful influence in local economies, and even the world economy, and play an important role in international relations and globalization.
Apple Inc. formerly Apple Computer, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. Its software includes the Mac OS X operating system; the iTunes media browser; the iLife suite of multimedia and creativity software; the iWork suite of productivity software; Aperture, a professional photography package; Final Cut Studio, a suite of professional audio and film-industry software products; Logic Studio, a suite of music production tools; the Safari web browser; and iOS, a mobile operating system.
As of July 2011, Apple has 357 retail stores in ten countries, and an online store. It has been the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization,[7][8] swapping spots with ExxonMobil, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.[9] As of September 24, 2011, the company had 60,400 permanent full-time employees and 2,900 temporary full-time employees worldwide; its worldwide annual sales totalled $65.23 billion, growing to $108.249 billion in 2011.
Fortune magazine named