iPhone/iPod touch Fastest-Growing Consumer Electronic Platform in History

The above graph, part of Morgan Stanley Internet analyst Mary Meeker's presentation at Web 2.0, showing iPhone/iPod touch as the fastest-growing consuming electronic platform in history pretty much speaks for itself. In case it doesn't, TechCrunch speaks for it as well:

[iPhone/iPod touch] adoption ramp is even steeper than videogame consoles including the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and Sony PSP. The original iPod and Blackberry aren’t even in the same league.

No doubt this plays into Apple's recent financial results, but building on what must now be around a 60 million strong install base (50 million from last quarter + 7.4 million new iPhones, + undisclosed amount of iPod touches), builds just the kind of momentum that tends towards freight-train like.

TechCrunch also shows charts highlighting the increase in AT&T data traffic since the iPhone came online (4,932%), and how mobile adoption is "outpacing" desktop. Check out the full article, linked above, for more.

Rene Ritchie
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Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

20 Comments
  • Well that's what happens when you make something that's badazz!!!!
  • first after machine's post ^ =D
  • 4,932% is an amazing stat on the data side.. we iphone folks love us some data. lol.
  • But idoesnt run simultaneous apps?
    Idoesnt support open development?
    Idoesnt take pictures at night?
  • Who cares when a device like that is super badazz! And I don't even own one. Actually the day I can fit my iTunes music one one is the day I'll switch. Thank god for the iPod Classic, the true underappreciated hero!
  • Cherry picked statistics.
    Surly the category "consuming electronic platform" would include Razrs and laptops and computers in general.
    Comparing it to game platforms, which most adults don't even own seems a bit of a stretch.
    A phone appeals to everyone, and one that includes the internet in your pocket with a "Geico interface" and cool-factor is bound to out-pace game platforms.
  • Heck of a job of doing selective statistics there. Meeker needs to be informed about the Nokia 1100. Call me when the real winner is announced ;)
  • @icebike
    of course the results are cherrypicked! It's all a conspiracy by the iPhone loving media goddamn it!!!! I mean of course the iPhone is going to beat gaming platforms Like the blackberry and the original iPod!!!! What do these people think we're stupid? It's clear that the evil empire that is apple is comtroling the media. I'm just glad I'm not the only one who sees it.
  • The Nokia 1100 isn't a consumer electronic platform...
  • When u make a quality product you will get good results. Apple= Quality=Nuff said
  • Tech sold to consumers == consumer tech. If you want to cheat and redefine it as "consumer electronic platform," well, the Nokia 1100 is every bit as much a consumer electronic platform as a Blackberry, or as the original iPods included in this graph.
    If you are going to exclude one of the largest selling pieces of consumer tech in history on a graph trumpeting relative sales figures, you had better include a reason for exclusion, otherwise it is fair to question the conclusions and/or assume it was excluded because it did not fit the pre-determined conclusion of the author.
    In logic circles, this sort of cherrypicking is generally referred to as the "No true Scotsman" fallacy. http://tinyurl.com/y9og5d
  • @Dev
    So lets throw in every thing from the first telephone to the first television to the first computer? honestly, i think they just took a few popular platforms and made a chart. Does it cover everything? Does any chart? Regardless, to deny that this is impressive is to deny logic.
  • well that makes sense, sonys firmware updates are useless. More than 75% of PSPs are custom firmwares. DSs are for little kids, so theres plenty of those going around. Wiis are well, wiis. and the iphone shouldnt be allowed to compete with those platforms. Their for GAMING, where as the iphone has multiple capabilities. ITS A PHONE.
  • @therealtruth
    Moving from "No True Scotsman" to "Reductio ad absurdum," I see. No need for you to grasp for examples, nor is there any reason for this chart to cover everything. At the very least, all this chart has to cover is what it claims to cover, and this one fails.
    The Chart's Title says it is the "Fastest Hardware user Growth in Consumer Tech History." I agree with you Ms Meeker probably just picked a few popular platforms, but that is precisely what dooms her case. To make such a claim, and then conveniently exclude comparably fast sellers, invalidates the chart, the study, and its conclusions. And yet blogs and news outlets repeat this flawed-from-the-start opinion as fact.
    Yes, ipod/iphone sales are undeniably impressive, and well-deserved. But fastest in history? Ms. Meeker, come back with a non-cherrypicked appraisal, and perhaps we can honestly discuss that claim.
  • Isn't it inaccurate to call the iphone and the touch the same platform? I mean, yes they run the same software, but by platform I think they mean a bit more than software. I only bring this up because I own and iphone, but drop the phone out and i wouldn't have gotten one--as cool as the touches are. To me it is totally inaccurate to say that a personal media player is the same thing as a phone.
  • @dev
    this isn't a study. It's simply a chart comparing iPhone to several other popular devices. Simple really. If news outlets And blogs report it as fact....well a lot of things are reported by news outlets and blogs as "fact".....and truth be told the chart taken by itself is accurate...
  • @Therealtruth
    "It's simply a chart comparing iPhone to several other popular devices." Agreed -- and that is the whole point! Label it correctly -- no problem, we can all agree iPod/iPhone sales have been phenomenal. But this tries to create a mantle they do not deserve, one which tIPB seems eager to eat up. And yes, the chart was part of a study. But to stick with the chart:
    Title: "Fastest Hardware user Growth in Consumer Tech History."
    Data: Omits other fastest sellers in favor of slower ones.
    See? The data does not support the title or conclusion. That is why it is inaccurate, event "taken by itself."
  • @dev
    the chart clearly states : "iPhone/itouch vs. PSP/Wii/ds/blackberry/iPod"
    I think that's pretty straight forward.
  • @Therealtruth
    Are you being deliberately obtuse? Yes, the subheading agrees with the chart. Great, I never said it did not. I spoke specifically of the title -- you know, the lines at the very top of the slide, in the largest font -- and the conclusions and coverage drawn from that title. Perhaps shouting will get it across:
    THE CHART'S TITLE AND CONCLUSIONS DO NOT FLOW LOGICALLY FROM THE DATA IN THE CHART, OR THE SUBHEADING!
    For Pete's sake, I have been giving Apple credit every step of the way for a thriving ecosystem. But Ms Meeker's study, and now TechCrunch's and tIPB's coverage, paints a picture not supported by the facts, or at least only supported by cherry-picked facts.
  • @dev
    no need to get your panties all in a bunch. Im just saying I looked at it and found it to be a simple comparison to a few othe popular devices. I mean sometimes you have to look at something for more than a second. How the media or whoever takes something isn't reallly all that important to me as long as I undrstand it.