Apple Has Sold 1 Billion iPhones

[CarlJ]

Well phones are a lot more capable now. If there was a device back in the 90s that did what an iPhone does, they'd be hooked on them too.

They are our news reports, updates about friends, communication, email machines, instant messages, text messages, calls, video chats, games, Internet browsing, privacy, MP3 players, cameras, and now even our wallets.

I don't think it's unsettling. I think it's fantastic that we can do all this and more in a machine that will fit in our hand. It's only unsettling how quickly things have grown.

So very much this. We are more connected than ever before. Whether you use that well, or poorly, that's a reflection on you, not the device. Those yelling that anyone who uses a smartphone must either have no life or be a terrorist, well, that's just about what you'd expect from a Luddite, you can almost hear the "Why in my day" in front of it and the "Get off my lawn!" at the end.

When I was young, if you'd come from the future (from today) and shown me your run-of-the-mill two-year-old iPhone and explained what it could do, first I'd be utterly astonished, and second I would have demanded to see your space suit and flying car as well, and asked what far-flung century you were from and what planet you currently live on. The mere capabilities of your average smartphone today are what was once science fiction. But far beyond that, the implications of our possibilities of being in such constant contact with so many, the interconnectedness of everything, and carrying around a device that can literally remember millions of things for you and provide instant access to billions more... we are already in the realm now of "computer assisted humans", being more capable, in some ways, than humans of previous decades.

Again, it all depends on how you use it. There are new skills humans need to gain, and it isn't "how to tweet", it's how best to employ this new tech that is avilable now - how, and when, and how much. Will lots of people get it wrong? Sure. That happens every time we're faced with something really new - heck, quite a few people still haven't figured out how to use alcohol or cars reasonably (first tip, never both at the same time), and look how long we've had to learn those.

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

It had nothing to do with w iCloud lock.

I'm aware of that. However, if the seller turned off Find my iPhone then it proves they were either the original owner or were a buddy of the original owner that was given the password. Going to be tough for them to claim a lost or stolen phone (to get a new one from the carrier through a replacement plan, for example) when it's discovered the seller knows their Apple ID. This is sufficient evidence to report it as fraud to the police.

 

[r3m1]

Lol, ok- name these companies that have sold several billion of multiple products, but don't think it's any big deal.

Really, that isn't really hard is it ...

Ask the guys in FMCG , likes of Nestle, Coca Cola (1,5 Billion servings per day), Pfizer (Lipitor), P&G, etc.

 

[C DM]

Really, that isn't really hard is it ...

Ask the guys in FMCG , likes of Nestle, Coca Cola (1,5 Billion servings per day), Pfizer (Lipitor), P&G, etc.

Apples and oranges and all that?

 

[EricTheHalfBee]

Can anyone confirm is it 400,000,000 or 500,000,000 iPhones in existence? - live.
thanks

It's way more than that. If you only count the 5S, SE, 6 and 6S then it's just over 600 million. And you can bet that any iPhone that new is still in use. Heck, at work we still have several people on the 5 and even the 4S (though they are going to be upgrading next month).

People keep their iPhones for a long time. And even the ones who upgrade yearly still sell or pass down their old iPhones. I'd bet there are more like 700-800 million iPhones still in use.

 

[Michael Goff]

Rigged that way, more than likely, so Apple wouldn't have to gift anyone some "prize" for being the 1 billionth iPhone purchaser. Trying to trim that bottom line like only Tim can. That's why there's no new computers...R&D costs too much.

R&D going up in spending, not down.

 

[r3m1]

Apples and oranges and all that?

Why? the ask was - show a company that has also sold more than a billion of its products

 

[CarlJ]

Why? the ask was - show a company that has also sold more than a billion of its products

True, but the implication was, durable products that cost hundreds of dollars - consumables that cost a dollar or two are pretty much a different animal altogether.

 

[mariusignorello]

Get over it Tim Cook is the big boss now, he managed to make Apple bigger than Jobs ever did. Cook is the future now, and he is doing a fantastic job. Apart from getting wearables started he also managed to get rid of racists, xenophobes and other idiots from their customer base (bye!!!) .

Lol but i'm still a customer.

 

[C DM]

Why? the ask was - show a company that has also sold more than a billion of its products

The products aren't really comparable?

 

[BvizioN]

Yeah, would've reached this milestone faster if the 6S didn't suck and the SE wasn't a rehash of a 4-year old design


And 16 GB base model... Is it 2009?
View attachment 642112

Guys, guys, guys.... you do realize you fall on a tiny minority of people? The "MacRumors people"? Normal people out there just don't give a toss about stuff that you normally love so much to complain. And that's why 1 billion iPhones are sold. Out there you know, are many phones with superior battery life and greater storage that suck on anything else, who for the obvious reasons have not sold 1 billion.

 

[macintoshmac]

"Ummm, Tim, when can I have my iPhone back?"

Exactly. If he is holding the phone, did he buy it or did he borrow it to hold it on stage?!
[doublepost=1469688360][/doublepost]

 

[BvizioN]

Exactly. If he is holding the phone, did he buy it or did he borrow it to hold it on stage?!
[doublepost=1469688360][/doublepost]

1 billion iPhones are sold because the population of the world is more than 6 billion. So, out of those 6 billion, 1 billion people who like a piece hardware designed by Apple and running software made and done by Apple is not really a very large number, and yes, they are normal people who just happen to buy those phones for the above reason.

Ok, so

1 billion is not a big number
Apple have not sold 7.4 billion phones (worlds population) therefore is not a success.

I really love the way you are trying to spin this, but surely you can do even better

 

[kacper1703]

Tim Cook and his team was exactly at the same spot where they predicted the billionth iPhone will be sold.

 

[macintoshmac]

Ok, so

1 billion is not a big number
Apple have not sold 7.4 billion phones (worlds population) therefore is not a success.

I really love the way you are trying to spin this, but surely you can do even better

Alright. Apologies are in order. Never gonna check notifications from MacRumors so early in the morning. Read your reply again two times, understood it better. Would never have happened if I was more awake.

 

[sofila]

Yes because MR posters can't just acknowledge an important milestone, they have to throw snark in.

No one in their wildest dreams could have predicted that Apple would've sold 1 billion iPhones in less than 10 years.

While I agree with your concept I just want to clarify that my wildest dreams don't include phones or tech-companies

 

[MH01]

Ah, good old hyperbole, extremes, and absolutes that add so so much.
[doublepost=1469653530][/doublepost]
Clearly all those 0s after the 1 are nothing since they are 0s and Apple, and Tim Cook specifically, are just spinning it all to make it look like it's actually some big number, when it's just a 1 with a bunch of 0s.

Of course. Cause without jobs , TC would have been on that stage taking credit for 1 billion iPhones sold.....Reality check people, there would be no Apple , let alone TC taking credit for the empire and products he inherited.

When cook launches a product that takes the world by storm....wake me up.

 

[robeddie]

Ummm... I'm not sure that womanizing is an achievement or that it somehow reveals one , but even if you want to argue that is or does, it's a different kind of achievement from a single company selling one billion high price products of a single kind. Previous landmark achievements *OF THIS KIND* include the Sony Walkman selling 100 million units. But no other products of this sort have ever reached a billion to my knowledge.

How hobbies and womanizing relate to this acknowledgment I cannot fathom. Good luck to you in your endeavors.

LOL, let's see, how do I explain this. I wasn't suggesting womanizing was an 'acheivement'. What I was getting at, sir, is that perhaps you need to get out a little more ... and do something else with your life, ANYTHING ... rather than finding pleasure in how many objects Apple sells.

And by the way, as a poster above pointed out, Nokia sold a quarter of a billion phones in a SINGLE YEAR, TWICE! And during their glory days sold well over 1 billion phones. So, acting like Apple selling that many phones is somehow a transcendent moment in your generation suggests you're infatuation with Apple may be just a tad myopic.

 

[deany]

It's way more than that. If you only count the 5S, SE, 6 and 6S then it's just over 600 million. And you can bet that any iPhone that new is still in use. Heck, at work we still have several people on the 5 and even the 4S (though they are going to be upgrading next month).

People keep their iPhones for a long time. And even the ones who upgrade yearly still sell or pass down their old iPhones. I'd bet there are more like 700-800 million iPhones still in use.

Hi

I wish apple would say how many. Based on andoids 1.4B

.8B iPhones would look a lot better marketshare wise......maybe when there is 1B iPhones live Tim will confirm this - 2018?

 

[CFreymarc]

This mean they are going to have an "x billions served" sign outside Apple stores like McDonald's?

 

[robeddie]

Ok, so

1 billion is not a big number
Apple have not sold 7.4 billion phones (worlds population) therefore is not a success.

I really love the way you are trying to spin this, but surely you can do even better

You both are spinning the numbers.

The two of you seem to be suggesting that 1 Billion iphone sales total means that I billion people on the planet NOW have an iphone.

Not even close.

When you consider that I alone have had around 6 different iphones over the course of it's existence, (and that's probably standard for those of use who started with the original iphone) .. 1 billion iphone sales over almost a decade hardly means 1/7 of the world population CURRENTLY has an iphone.

>>In fact, much fewer than 1 billion unique people have EVER had an iPhone. The real number? Who knows 250 million maybe? (couldn't find that stat).

On top of all that, the total sales of ALL SMARTPHONES since the inception of the smartphone, is surely multiple times the current population of the earth.

So all I'm saying is, while 1-biillion iphones sold over the course of 9 years is still a decent number, it's not quite as big as either of you seem to be suggesting.

 

[BvizioN]

You both are spinning the numbers.

You really can't spin the fact that these are 1 billion phones sold! And the fact that 1 billion is a big number.

 

[Teon]

Well congratulations to the company Apple

 

[wolfaaron]

Android reached their 1 billionth two years ago. But apple did it on their own so they deserve to be congratulated.

 

[nebo1ss]

I saw one press article saying that they have a base of 1 billion iPhones to sell software product too. Cannot imagine what they are thinking. I am on my fourth iPhone and 2 of the three previous ones are certainly not available in that base. I think we can safely assume that many millions of that I billion have been scrapped