---
title: "Which came first, Amazon or Apple?"
description: "Amazon vs Apple: Apple came first, by 18 years — 1976 against 1994. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-apple/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Amazon or Apple?

**Which came first, Amazon or Apple?: Apple**

1976 — 18 years before Amazon

Apple came first, by 18 years. Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company.

## Side by side

|  | Amazon | Apple |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1994 | 1976 |
| Date | 1994-07-05 | 1976-04-01 |
| Category | technology | company |
| What happened | Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state. | Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company. |

## Amazon

Amazon was incorporated on 5 July 1994, originally as Cadabra, and the website opened in July 1995 selling only books. The 1994 incorporation date is used here because it is the company's own founding date; if you mean the shop, 1995 is the answer. Either way it predates Google by three or four years and eBay by about a year.

## Apple

Apple was founded on 1 April 1976, a year and a day after Microsoft. Ronald Wayne, the third founder, sold his 10% stake back for $800 twelve days later. The Apple I was a bare circuit board sold for $666.66; the Apple II of 1977 was the machine that made the company.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Amazon or Apple?

Apple, by 18 years — 1976 against 1994.

### When did Amazon start?

1994. Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state.

### When did Apple start?

1976. Jobs, Wozniak and Wayne founded Apple Computer Company.

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- [Apple or the World Wide Web?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/apple-vs-world-wide-web/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]