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iPhone Turning Five Years Old with 250 Million Units Sold, $150 Billion in Revenue

whooleytoo

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
notjustjay said:
I wonder if Apple truly thought that "apps" weren't needed, and gave in to the public outcry to create an SDK, or if they had this plan all along and just withheld it at the beginning to generate excitement and rumor mill traffic.

Certainly the apps are what carried the iPhone (and modern smartphones) to their current levels of success. An iPhone without apps was (and still would be today) pretty boring.

If Apple truly thought that app SDKs were unnecessary then that would have been a huge mistake -- one that they corrected, thankfully, and in doing so reaped billions of dollars in return.
Click to expand...

I'd guess they planned to introduce 3rd party apps all along. But getting the phone & iPhone OS done on schedule was enough of an engineering challenge, without adding 3rd party apps into the mix. It was almost an instant reaction for a lot of people: "Oooh! Can I make apps for that?". I can't imagine Apple could have missed that. IIRC, Apple were ridiculing the notion of them releasing a phone... until the first rumours leaked out. It probably was the same with apps, there's little point in announcing them too far in advance.

IMO, the direct revenue from apps is probably a lesser benefit than the buzz it generates around the iOS devices; and the 'lock in' factor. I love the look of the latest Samsung Galaxy, but it would be hard to leave the many dozens of purchased iOS apps behind.
 
C

coolfactor

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2002
7,062
9,730
Vancouver, BC
mygoldens said:
And it is getting a bit old!

Apple needs to step up the game, LTE ALREADY! You have it in the iPad, like that is almost useful.

Let some customizations happen!

I like Apple, but loosen up, not everyone wants it to be like "1984"!

Apple didn't you have a commercial to say "Think different", hmmm we are all marching to the same tune now with no personalization or personality!
Click to expand...

Let me get this straight... one one hand, you want Apple to announce an LTE iPhone so they can be just like everybody else, and yet you want Apple to be different from everybody else. I'm confused.

With regards to Think Different, that was about Apple against the market. It's an attitude. They don't follow technology like 90% of the tech companies out there, they lead it. Prove me wrong.
 
H

Howardchief

macrumors regular
Jun 9, 2008
138
0
You know, we keep flaming Google and supports for liking how they may or may not be giving away part of that 900k a day. Of course Apple being able to sell that many phones speaks to the awesomeness of the iPhone and it's young, but rich history. But we have to appreciate how much Google gives away in general.

I'll still always have my iPhone.. Free or not :) Happy Birthday!:apple:
 
J

jctevere

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2009
277
26
Is this just pertaining to hardware device sales? Because I think the "iPhone" family has also contributed much more revenue for Apple. Between AppStore sales (before the iPad came out) to selling accessories such as cases and other apple branded products, I wonder exactly how much the iPhone family has actually contributed to Apple's bottom line.

With that said, between my family members living in my household, we had: 2 Original iPhones, 5 iPhone 3GS, 2 iPhone 4's, 4 iPhone 4S's. And at least 3 planned purchases of the iPhone 5 (when it comes out).
 
Z

zzLZHzz

macrumors 6502
Mar 9, 2012
277
71
Sensation said:
Just think at its current rate Android (900k+ a day) sells more in 1 year than iphone has in 5 years. Well done Google.
Click to expand...

there is more than a 100 different model of andriod device as compared to 5 different iphones over the years. if andriod doesn't even sell that much, it is dead.
 
Tinmania

Tinmania

macrumors 68040
Aug 8, 2011
3,528
1,016
Aridzona
iRobby

iRobby

macrumors 6502a
Mar 22, 2011
994
6
Fort Myers, FL USA
nfl46 said:
Oh man, I remember when the first iPhone came out. I was torn between it and the AT&T Tilt. I went back and forth, and finally stayed with the iPhone because my friends thought it was cool. Haha. Wow, thats when the journey begun and my daily driver has been every new iPhone that has been released. If I switch phones, like I'm doing now (Nexus), I always come back to the iPhone. I cannot wait until the new one. A few months with Android. :(
Click to expand...

My first iPhone was an iPhone 3GS. And I remember standing in the AT&T store in Oct 2009 not able to decide between the iPhone or a Blackberry.

Wow! I'm so glad I chose the iPhone. It changed my perspective on technology.

Since 2009 I've gone from my first iPhone the iPhone 3GS to My 2nd iPhone being the iPhone 4S my first iPad this past March with the "New" iPad and now this summer buying my first Mac computer, the MacBook Pro Retina or 13" MacBook Air


THANK YOU. Apple:apple:
 
L

lvt

macrumors newbie
Aug 21, 2008
16
0
Gave my 3G to a friend. Got my purchased on day one first gen iPhone back when another friend got her own 3GS. Works great and only a few scratches on the back (from friend not me!). Just migrated to iCloud two hours ago (can you say last minute?) and lost all calendars and contacts on the old 2G. Finally got calendars back through iTunes, but still no luck with contacts. Its OK though because I have 2 iMacs (home and work), 2 iPads (64 gig 3G v2 and v3), an iPhone 4, a 5th gen Nano (with slightly broken click wheel) and an original Classic iPod on which I can look them up. And yes, I am anxiously awaiting the next iPhone. (and a 7th gen Nano with bluetooth to replace my current Nano Watch)
 
M

melendezest

Suspended
Jan 28, 2010
1,693
1,579
javaJunkie said:
When I read this article back in 2007, I knew the iPhone was going to do well. How this guy ever got a job analyzing apple Ill never know. What a tool

http://articles.marketwatch.com/2007-03-28/news/30774497_1_apple-handset-business-market
Click to expand...

Funny article! It's amazing how he got EVERYTHING wrong in there, starting with why the iPod was a success. He's a perfect example of the typical Apple basher who just doesn't get why they're so successful..


"What Apple risks here is its reputation as a hot company that can do no wrong. If it's smart it will call the iPhone a "reference design" and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else's marketing budget...It should do that immediately before it's too late. Samsung Electronics Ltd. (US:SSNGY) might be a candidate." -I guess Samsung took him at his word, without asking Apple...;)
 
R

RaelFacio

macrumors newbie
Oct 22, 2009
24
10
I had forgotten that the price was unsubsidized until noted in previous posts.

The first two that I purchased were $399.00 each for the 8GB configuration with the nicest gift boxes that I have ever seen.

Just like some previous online orders that I had with Apple back then, such as an iMac and iBook, the iPhones were sitting on the front porch the next afternoon. I was honestly very pleased with that.

There have been more orders since and will be more in the future.
 
DrMotownMac

DrMotownMac

Contributor
Jul 11, 2008
383
207
Michigan
rei101 said:
I had to place this video again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U
Click to expand...

ROTFLMAO!!! Ballmer is such a stupid buffoon! It's amazing that neanderthal is as wealthy as he is. If he had never met Bill Gates at Harvard in the first place, I think he'd be selling clothes or something. On the other hand, would you buy clothes from him?? Nah, he'd probably be working for the government. That's where the real incompetents end up.
 
H

HAMEYO

macrumors member
Jan 19, 2011
98
0
mygoldens said:
And it is getting a bit old!

Apple needs to step up the game, LTE ALREADY! You have it in the iPad, like that is almost useful.

Let some customizations happen!

I like Apple, but loosen up, not everyone wants it to be like "1984"!

Apple didn't you have a commercial to say "Think different", hmmm we are all marching to the same tune now with no personalization or personality!
Click to expand...


Sorry, I'm Not Marching to Same Tune as Yours.


You Completely Misunderstand The Term " Personalization " or " Personality ".


It's up to Your Imagination and Inspiration to Make Most of i-OS Devices!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
H

HAMEYO

macrumors member
Jan 19, 2011
98
0
Fresh Pie said:
Since everybody is getting sentimental and reminiscing, I might as well do the same thing. I remember watching some comedian on SNL talking about YouTube, so I checked it out and made an account. A few months before the first iPhone was released, I saw a YouTube video of some new Google project called Android. It was running on a Blackberry phone and looked like the standard OS except it had a Google search bar, which I thought was the most pointless thing ever. Then the iPhone was released, and I wanted it more than anything. There was just something awesome about all the things it could do. The next time I saw Android, it was a touchscreen OS competing with iOS, and I was amazed at how much they'd stolen from Apple.
Click to expand...


This!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Ingot

Ingot

macrumors 6502
Mar 24, 2010
266
23
s15119 said:
Yup. I feel the same way. When I first got my iPhone, it was OK. It was cool. But it wasn't till the app store came out that I realized it's life changing power. It's just amazing to have the powerful little computer in my shirt pocket.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what my 4S is used for. It is my secondary computer while my 27" ibeast is my primary. Love it!
 
Small White Car

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Aug 29, 2006
10,966
1,463
Washington DC
DrMotownMac said:
The funny thing is that my first child was born one month before the iPhone was released (May 2007) and she IS heading off to kindergarten this fall! I always tell her that there was no such thing as iPhones before she was born, and she laughs at that!! Like I'm telling her there was no such thing as television before her grandfather was born (which she and I both find funny).

Decades from now, she'll tell her children and grandchildren that she was born a month before the iPhone came out, and they'll say, "Wow, you're OLD!"
Click to expand...

My daughter was Feb '07, which is, yes, what inspired my comment.

She also finds it funny when I tell her that phones just used to do phone calls.
 
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