You might find it hard to believe, but it’s true – it’s been five years since Apple launched the iPhone, thus making itself the biggest player in the world of technology.
The iPhone has been nothing short of a game-changer, so let’s take a minute to examine the facts behind the rise of everyone’s favourite smartphone.
Apple’s world domination
Since it launched back in 2007, Apple’s iPhone has been responsible for generating over $150 billion for its parent company, according to Strategy Analytics. That’s more than a quarter of a billion iPhones, which now span the globe many times over.
Those figures mean that the iPhone is the most popular smartphone in the world, giving Apple a market-leading product that shows no signs of going away, as new innovations like the voice-activated Siri on the 4S show.
Tough years ahead for Apple
“The iPhone portfolio has become a huge generator of cash and profit for Apple… However, there are emerging signs that the iPhone’s next five years could get tougher,” said Neil Mawston, Executive Director of Strategy Analytics.
“Some mobile operators are becoming concerned about the high level of subsidies they spend on the iPhone, while Samsung is expanding its popular Galaxy portfolio and providing Apple with more credible competition.”
So there you have it – one of the reasons for the iPhone’s success is that it was launched with ready made technological backing
Apple vs Samsung
But with Samsung phones using the ever-expanding (and Google-backed) Android OS, the days of the iPhone being in a class of its own could be numbered.
Apple has in fact been engaged in patent dispute with Samsung since 2011, when it claimed Samsung’s tablet computer (the Galaxy Tab 10.1) was a copy of its own iPad.
Samsung also complained that its technology was being used without its consent. And more recently a district judge in California blocked sales of Galaxy Nexus smartphones, saying Apple has ‘shown a likelihood of establishing both infringement and validity’ by its rival Samsung.
So it looks like it’s far from all over in the battle of the smartphones –nobody ever said being at the top was easy.
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