4 ms·

He's hard on himself over the smartphone start, the orignal iphone had sales numbers that were a rounding error.

by Marazan 11y ago

pavlov 11y ago
Quite true. The iPhone didn't really take off until late 2008 when iPhone 3G, the global launch and the App Store happened. In the first two months, iPhone sales were slacking so much that Apple suddenly dropped the price by $200 after just two months on the market: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/technology/07apple.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/technology/07apple.html?_r...
- ghaff 11y ago
  I strongly suspect that the vast majority of people--even here--"remember" a number of Apple's biggest wins as being inevitable from Day One. In fact, as you say, the iPhone didn't become a must have smartphone until 3G/3GS timeframes. Similarly, until the 4th gen iPod with the click wheel, the iPod was pretty much just another reasonably well-regarded, albeit pricey, MP3 player.
  - abritinthebay 11y ago
    I think that anyone that doesn't remember the iPhone as being a wild crazy success was just not paying attention - and the numbers back that up. The 3GS was when it exploded but it was already a big success by that point. What people have to remember is the success of the iPhone is practically unprecedented in terms of adoption. It's incredibly rare to come out and dominate an industry like that when you're a new entrant into the space. Even if the iPhone had continued it's July-September sales curve it would have been a success. It just got even more-so when the other versions came out.
    - ghaff 11y ago
      I think we're quibbling over terminology. As you say, it was the 3GS that "exploded." (And it's when I personally upgraded from a Treo 650.) I agree that, to a significantly greater degree than the iPod, the iPhone was from Day 1 obviously a big deal even if it wasn't clear that most competitors really needed to get busy working on their gravestones.
    - Marazan 11y ago
      I looked up other phones and really No, the number do not back that up. The Nokia N95 sold 7 million units in a year after launch, pretty much exactly the same numbers as the original IPhone. Unless you are declaring the N95 a wild crazy success you are talking rose tinted nonsense.
      - abritinthebay 11y ago
        I didn't realize Nokia got into the business with the N95... oh wait... (Also it was a large success for Nokia so that does t help your case much) Also - either selling 25% of the U.S. market is not a success to you or you don't understand the market.
- abritinthebay 11y ago
  The price drop was due to finally getting the phone subsidized by major networks. If you bought it unlocked (or if you still do) it was the same price. It sucked a little for Early Adopters (like me) but it was completely predictable and wasn't honestly a huge surprise to anyone paying attention. By the time the price drop happened they had sold over 25% of the smartphones that were bought in the previous quarter. They'd already met their goal of 1 million smartphones by the end of September at that point. I swear... the rubbish I see over this: the iPhone was a wild success considering that Apple had zero involvement in that business before. It was the kind of success that many companies dream about for new hardware.
abritinthebay 11y ago
I think that's being just a wee bit unfair. Smartphone sales in the US in the first quarter the iPhone was released (July-September) were ~4.2 million units, Apple sold 1.12 million iPhones that quarter. In other words - the iPhone had ~27% of the US Market sales. That's... not a rounding error. That's an incredible and wild success. The price drop after September helped of course - but they'd already sold over 1 million iPhones by then anyhow. By the end of the year they had a 5% market share worldwide. Nothing to sniff at for something only 6 months old.
- Marazan 11y ago
  Sure, if you want to define the market as "things similar to the iphone" then yes, they did have a good market share. In terms of the mobile phone market though the original iphone made up lezs that 1%of the market. It took the 3G to change the world.
  - abritinthebay 11y ago
    Sure but seeing as that included non smartphones that's a bit... well stupid of a metric to use. I mean it's like complaining that Aston Martin is a failure in car market because Chevrolet sells more cars.
    - Marazan 11y ago
      Well, yes. But as I pointed out below the iPhone's sales figures were identical to the N95 and no one is claiming the N95 was a massive success. When the iPhone launched the "smart phone market" didn't exist - there were a couple of other smart phones. It was a incredibly niche category.

He's hard on himself over the smartphone start, the orignal iphone had sales numbers that were a rounding error.

by Marazan 11y ago

He's hard on himself over the smartphone start, the orignal iphone had sales numbers that were a rounding error.

Quite true. The iPhone didn't really take off until late 2008 when iPhone 3G, the global launch and the App Store happened. In the first two months, iPhone sales were slacking so much that Apple suddenly dropped the price by $200 after just two months on the market: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/technology/07apple.html?_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/technology/07apple.html?_r...

ghaff 11y ago
I strongly suspect that the vast majority of people--even here--"remember" a number of Apple's biggest wins as being inevitable from Day One. In fact, as you say, the iPhone didn't become a must have smartphone until 3G/3GS timeframes. Similarly, until the 4th gen iPod with the click wheel, the iPod was pretty much just another reasonably well-regarded, albeit pricey, MP3 player.
- abritinthebay 11y ago
  I think that anyone that doesn't remember the iPhone as being a wild crazy success was just not paying attention - and the numbers back that up. The 3GS was when it exploded but it was already a big success by that point. What people have to remember is the success of the iPhone is practically unprecedented in terms of adoption. It's incredibly rare to come out and dominate an industry like that when you're a new entrant into the space. Even if the iPhone had continued it's July-September sales curve it would have been a success. It just got even more-so when the other versions came out.
  - ghaff 11y ago
    I think we're quibbling over terminology. As you say, it was the 3GS that "exploded." (And it's when I personally upgraded from a Treo 650.) I agree that, to a significantly greater degree than the iPod, the iPhone was from Day 1 obviously a big deal even if it wasn't clear that most competitors really needed to get busy working on their gravestones.
  - Marazan 11y ago
    I looked up other phones and really No, the number do not back that up. The Nokia N95 sold 7 million units in a year after launch, pretty much exactly the same numbers as the original IPhone. Unless you are declaring the N95 a wild crazy success you are talking rose tinted nonsense.
    - abritinthebay 11y ago
      I didn't realize Nokia got into the business with the N95... oh wait... (Also it was a large success for Nokia so that does t help your case much) Also - either selling 25% of the U.S. market is not a success to you or you don't understand the market.
abritinthebay 11y ago
The price drop was due to finally getting the phone subsidized by major networks. If you bought it unlocked (or if you still do) it was the same price. It sucked a little for Early Adopters (like me) but it was completely predictable and wasn't honestly a huge surprise to anyone paying attention. By the time the price drop happened they had sold over 25% of the smartphones that were bought in the previous quarter. They'd already met their goal of 1 million smartphones by the end of September at that point. I swear... the rubbish I see over this: the iPhone was a wild success considering that Apple had zero involvement in that business before. It was the kind of success that many companies dream about for new hardware.

abritinthebay 11y ago

I think that's being just a wee bit unfair. Smartphone sales in the US in the first quarter the iPhone was released (July-September) were ~4.2 million units, Apple sold 1.12 million iPhones that quarter. In other words - the iPhone had ~27% of the US Market sales. That's... not a rounding error. That's an incredible and wild success. The price drop after September helped of course - but they'd already sold over 1 million iPhones by then anyhow. By the end of the year they had a 5% market share worldwide. Nothing to sniff at for something only 6 months old.

Marazan 11y ago
Sure, if you want to define the market as "things similar to the iphone" then yes, they did have a good market share. In terms of the mobile phone market though the original iphone made up lezs that 1%of the market. It took the 3G to change the world.
- abritinthebay 11y ago
  Sure but seeing as that included non smartphones that's a bit... well stupid of a metric to use. I mean it's like complaining that Aston Martin is a failure in car market because Chevrolet sells more cars.
  - Marazan 11y ago
    Well, yes. But as I pointed out below the iPhone's sales figures were identical to the N95 and no one is claiming the N95 was a massive success. When the iPhone launched the "smart phone market" didn't exist - there were a couple of other smart phones. It was a incredibly niche category.