The Apple Retail Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc., dealing in computers and consumer electronics. The stores sell Macintosh personal computers, software, iPods, iPads, iPhones, third-party accessories, and other consumer electronics such as Apple TV. Many stores feature a Theatre for presentations and workshops and a Studio for training with Apple products; all stores offer a Genius Bar for technical support and repairs, as well as free workshops available to the public. Under the leadership of Ron Johnson, the former Senior Vice President of Retail Operations, the Apple Stores have been responsible for "[turning] the boring computer sales floor into a sleek playroom filled with gadgets". As of November 2011[update], Apple had opened 358 stores worldwide.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) 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[update], Apple has 357 retail stores in ten countries, and an online store. As of September 2011[update], it is the largest publicly traded company in the world by market capitalization, and the largest technology company in the world by revenue and profit.[citation needed] As of September 24, 2011 (2011 -09-24)[update], 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.