<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Apple is now one of the most valuable companies in the world — a market capitalisation of more than $3.5 trillion — but a core part of Apple's history is the time it almost went broke.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As the company marks its 50th anniversary, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Greg Joswiak, spoke exclusively to 9News to reflect on 50 years - including the mid-1990s when the future of the business was far from certain.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You just have to imagine that this was a company that was really struggling if we were going to make payroll," Joswiak said, reflecting on the years before Steve Jobs returned to Apple.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-march-30-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/e9266dcd-3f4a-470e-8c77-03535b5205a3" rel="" target="_blank" title="All eyes on National Cabinet to solve fuel crisis; Iran 'preparing for ground invasion'"><strong><span>All eyes on National Cabinet to solve fuel crisis; Iran 'preparing for ground invasion'</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jobs famously returned to the company in 1997 and refocused Apple on creating standout products, paving the way for devices including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Joswiak, who has worked at Apple for 40 of its 50 years, said the turnaround shaped the company's modern philosophy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The great companies fail because they forget about creating great products," he said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/technology/apple-almost-went-broke--now-its-celebrating-50-years/0a597f3d-d703-45c4-9a75-44602dec6a8e" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Apple's success since then has helped redefine entire industries, including music, smartphones, and personal computing.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Despite the milestone anniversary, Joswiak says Apple is not a company that spends much time looking backwards.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are not nostalgic people… we're built to work on things in the future," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead, he says the 50-year milestone is more about recognising what customers have achieved using Apple technology. "People have changed the world with the things they've done with our products."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That philosophy dates back decades, with the original Macintosh famously described as a "bicycle for your mind", technology designed to help people achieve more and express their creativity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Later this year, it will be fifteen years since Steve Jobs lost his battle with pancreatic cancer. Reflecting on this, Joswiak admitted that Jobs' philosophies still guide the company today. "We learned so much from Steve," he added. "We were almost out of business in 1996 and in 97, and he came back in 1997 and the company was rebirthed."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The problem was simple; the solution the same, says Joswiak. "Apple had forgotten about creating great products. So we were going to focus all of our efforts on how to create the greatest products in the world and how to tell people why they're great."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As they say, the rest is history. "That began the journey with the iMac, and it led to the iPod and iTunes, and then the iPhone and App Store and iPad, and eventually then the Apple Watch, AirPods, you know, Apple Vision Pro, incredible services, iCloud, all these things that came from this company that was nearly out of business." Said Joswiak.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In simple terms, "the belief that if you create great products, everything else will work out. And it seems to be working."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As part of the global anniversary celebrations, Australia has featured prominently, with artwork created on iPad projected onto the sails of the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/technology/sydney-opera-house-sails-light-up-to-mark-50-years-of-apple/eefa46c4-79f5-4003-a8ce-d6c6257dc02c" rel="" target="_blank" title="Sydney Opera House using the Australian-developed app Procreate"><span>Sydney Opera House using the Australian-developed app Procreate</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Joswiak described the Opera House projection as one of his favourite expressions of the milestone, calling the display "absolutely stunning".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Looking ahead at the next 50 years, Joswiak says the same core ideas that guided its early years will continue to shape the future. "Safe to say, I think some of the things that made us successful for these 50 years, putting the customer at the centre of everything we do, unleashing human potential through technology, making it personal, making it easy to use, making it fun to use. I think all those sorts of things are things that are going to hopefully be just as true in the next 50 years as they have been in the previous."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think we will continue to do revolutionary products. I think there are many more to be had over the next five decades."</span></div></div>