Apple has announced that it has now sold one billion iPhones in the lifetime of the product. The company announced the milestone at a company meeting on Wednesday morning.
From Apple:
"iPhone has become one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in history. It's become more than a constant companion. iPhone is truly an essential part of our daily life and enables much of what we do throughout the day," said Cook. "Last week we passed another major milestone when we sold the billionth iPhone. We never set out to make the most, but we've always set out to make the best products that make a difference. Thank you to everyone at Apple for helping change the world every day."
To give this number some context, it took 27 years for one billion PCs to be sold. Disney welcomed the one billionth visitor to its theme parks after 49 years of operation, and it was 131 years before there were one billion cars driving across roads across the world.
Apple crossed the billion total devices mark earlier this year, which includes iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
Reader comments
Apple announces 1 billion iPhones sold
Congratulations. Well done.
putting aside the irrelevant and pointless "in context" comparisons (ie. cars are much more expensive than phones and people upgrade their cars much less frequently than their phones), in year 2014 alone, there were 1 billion Android smartphones sold...Author kinda forgot to include that one "in context"
Let's conveniently put aside the "context" that the 1 billion Android smartphones were spread out over several suppliers. But I'm sure that doesn't matter to the trolls.
typically when statistics are compared, its iOS vs. Android...and by the way the PC and Car examples that were put in "context" are also across several manufacturers ...don't see you barking about those.
Plus, Samsung alone has consistently has had more worldwide marketshare than iphone anyways your argument is moot,
No my argument is not moot. My argument is that people use context when it's convenient for them. The fact that 1 billion Android smartphones were sold in 2014 does not change the fact that Apple has sold 1 billion iPhones. Nor does it change the fact that it's a fairly impressive feat, especially considering how expensive they are. And, "typically when statistics are compared" they are compared in a way that is convenient for the person or company doing the comparing.
you're basically making my argument that people use context when it's convenient for them which is exactly what the author of this article has done by mentioning completely irrelevant examples (cars and pcs) and leaving out the direct competitor of Apple (ios) which can be either Android or Samsung (either one you pick has sold more phones than Apple, so yes, your point moot)
I was not excluding the article. But I'm specifically excluding people like you who cannot stand even the slightest criticism to anything they say/write. I can only imagine what you must be like in your workplace.
Lol, how did i not stand criticism? I read your criticism and addressed it pretty comfortably. Seems like now that your argument has been trumped, you're resorting to personal attacks.
No, I just get bored with people who have to be right all the time, especially when it comes to criticizing anything positive about Apple. I find it humorous.
More like you get bored with people that prove you wrong.
I think conveniently leaving out Apple's direct competitor when trying to compare Apple's phone sales and instead comparing irrelevant categories (cars) needed to be brought up...kinda common sense
But how many of these one billion Android phones sold in 2014 were flagships? We can debate Android vs iOS until we're blue in the face. And I have. I've only been an iPhone user for three months. Before that, six years with four Android phones. I like both platforms. But I would argue that a vast majority of Android phones sold are not flagships. The Moto G and OnePlus One for example are not flagships, but are excellent mid-rangers. And then there are straight up crappy Android phones. I do not feel these phones are a bad mark on Android as a whole (however, OEMs like Motorola who don't like to update, are), but let's consider the context of a statement like "one billion Android phones sold in 2014 alone." Meanwhile, with the exception of the iPhone 5c (which was really just a repackaged iPhone 5 with a colorful plastic back), Apple only makes flagship phones.
Like ‘em or not, that’s impressive.
That's impressive, over 140 million of people have false impression or have absolutely no clue what innovation is.
Sent from the iMore App
140 million? Where does that number come from?
Are you brain dead?
Hmmm, my brain is ok.
Simply divided 1 billion by number of iPhone models, rounded a bit.
Sent from the iMore App
I don't think those examples of "context" are remotely the same. Especially not the cars one. Think of the cost of those cars in the day. The limited use they had at first. Completely different world. Population difference alone is more than enough to make it ridiculous. By comparison, the original iPhone wasn't egregiously priced compared to others phones. The connectedness of the world had huge implications. Cell phones were already apart of the everyday for most of the world before iPhone came out, they weren't even the first smartphone by far so the market shift towards their segment had already started. And the population was almost six times that of when cars were invited, let alone commonplace.
Sent from the iMore App
1/2 of these billion devices were sold in just the last 28 months. They passed the 500 million landmark in March 2014.
Sent from the iMore App
1 billion iPhones sold is impressive and the Android fanboys will point out that Android reached this milestone 2 years ago but they conveniently ommit the fact that most of the 1 billion Android devices sold are mostly mid range to low end phones than flagships while almost everyone of those 1 billion iPhones sold were flagship devices which makes Apple's achievement much more impressive
Sent from the iMore App
Huh ? You make no sense. Well I didn't understand you but I probably thick. It is impressive that apple have sold that amount of iPhones no doubt, that much I agree on.
Posted via the iMore App for Android
I'll break it down, Android was able to get to 1 billion phones sold before Apple because most of the Android phones are cheaper mid range to low end phones while most of the 1 billion iPhones sold were a flagship, meaning the are more expensive, which the likely reason it took Apple 2 years longer to sell 1 billion iPhones.
Sent from the iMore App
Thats it
Sent from the iMore App
No.
Are you miss the point Apple start making "low range" phones from some time, 5C and 5ES? Till that time was one model every year and it's hard to call it top range if you consider how many features is missing in iPhone in comparison with top Android phones.
Sent from the iMore App
I did say as almost all f thr 1 billion iPhones Apple sold were flagships. The 5c was the iPhone 5 repackaged and the iPhone SE is the 6s in the shelll of the 5s with only the front facing camera being the same as the one used in the 5s along with no 3D Touch and the exact same screen resolution as the 5 and 5s.
Sent from the iMore App
I'm happy to say that I have used and loved my iPhone 6 Plus, my 4S, and my 3GS. All 3 are still in almost perfect condition.
I have a hard time understanding how many non-technically oriented people use Android phones. Shirley, they know that smartphones are difficult to manage even if the smartphone only has one model every year or two. Updates and security fixes are also much more inconvenient in the Android system. Also, they are not that much cheaper.
I'm not looking to start an argument, but I fail to see the attraction of non-iPhones. It seems to me that when the best is not that much more expensive, why not go with the best. If you love Android, then your choice has reached the 1 billion sold mark sooner than Apple's iPhone.
Yay Apple ..!
Phones are getting bigger, not smaller... At one time we were happy with a mere 3.5-inch display.
Indeed. Now I pick up my 3GS or 4S and it feels like a toy. Steve Jobs must be wondering how accurate his test groups were. People's taste changes.