Apple today announced it sold its one millionth iPhone yesterday, just 74 days after its introduction on June 29. iPhone combines three devices into one-a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and the best mobile Internet device ever-all based on Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface and pioneering software that allows users to control iPhone with just a tap, flick or pinch of their fingers.
“One million iPhones in 74 days-it took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, in the press release. “We can’t wait to get this revolutionary product into the hands of even more customers this holiday season.”
Apple has hit the first of their two publicly-stated goals: 1 million iPhones sold by the end of September 2007 (21 days early). Apple also has a goal (however laughably conservative it may be) of selling 10 million iPhones in calendar 2008.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in his Macworld Expo 2007 keynote address that Apple would set the goal of selling 10 million iPhone units in 2008, the first full year on the market. (Macworld Expo 2007 iPhone Introduction: Jobs’ remarks on iPhone goals begin at 1:15:52 into the QuickTime video). On July 25, 2007, during Apple’s conference call discussing Q3 – 2007 financial results, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer reiterated Apple’s goal of selling 10 million iPhone units in “calendar 2008.” (Apple’s Q3 07 Apple Quarterly Results Call: Oppenheimer’s remarks on iPhone goals begin at 6:05 into the QuickTime audio stream).
Going forward, Apple’s iPhone price reductions and launches outside the U.S. will change much about these figures, but here’s what we know today about Apple’s position in the market:
• Apple sold an average of 13,514 iPhone units per day in each of the first 74 days (mostly at launch prices)
• Without taking the price cuts into account, Apple will sell 1.233 million iPhones in the first quarter.
• Using the latest numbers Canalys has available on their website (Q4 2006 – Holiday Quarter):
– Apple (with summer U.S. sales only) outsold Sony Ericsson’s worldwide holiday smartphone unit sales (1.137 million units, 5.1% market share)
– Apple (with summer U.S. sales only) outsold Palm’s worldwide holiday smartphone unit sales (1.211 million units, 5.5% market share)
– Apple (with summer U.S. sales only) places just behind Motorola’s worldwide holiday smartphone unit sales (1.463 million units, 6.6% market share)
– According to Canalys, Nokia led with 11.114 million “smart mobile device” shipments in Q4 2006 (50.2% share); RIM was second with 1.829 million (8.3% share).
(Note that we are comparing projected Apple iPhone sales in Q3 2007 (summer) to Q4 2006 (holiday) figures for others because they are the best numbers we have available to us at this time. We conduct this exercise in order to give some sense of where Apple stands in the market.)
With the iPhone’s stunning price cut, the ramp up around the world soon to begin, and the holiday season approaching, you can see just how quickly, viciously, and gluttonously Apple has moved into the world of smart mobile devices.
There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, April 30, 2007
[UPDATE: 1:40pm EDT: Corrected Nokia Q4 06 unit sales as per Canalys.]
Well, this proves that Apple is a failure.
I don’t know how, but I’m sure some ‘news’ orgasmization will explain it to my closed mind…..
Let’s see how the idiot anal-ists on Wall Street try to spin this one as bad news. If you hold AAPL long, do not get panicked into selling by the crooks on Wall Street and the media whores. Apple is winning this game and winning it big.
Ballmer……. Ballmer…. Steve Ballmer.. hm ??? who is this guy ?
Any guesses what the Xmas season will bring in terms of sales to help bring that 10million mark to a reality??
@John
You are also forgetting the chance of unlocked iPhones thru people like http://www.iphoneanywhere.com/
In Mexico, we aren’t even on the horizon , we do not even have an iTunes store, as soon as they can start doing remote unlocks, I am getting 3, for me and my 2 girls in University in the States, we will get the smallest ATT family plan, and I will use a TelMex simm while in Mexico.
and its just not me, there is alot of talk here about iPhones being unlocked
Congratulations Apple on the iPhone.
And thank you for changing the world on cellular communication.
The future belongs to Apple!!!!
I’m sort of concerned about the iPod touch taking sales away from the iPhone though, from here on. Personally, I would definitely buy an iPhone instead of a touch and a phone, but I can see a lot of people out there who would buy a touch now and then not feel like they need an iPhone…especially internationally. Here in Japan for instance, people LOVE their phones how they are, but I’m sure they would love iPod touches.
MDN word: herself.
The only ORIGINAL Apple target was 10m by the end of calendar 2008.
1m in the first quarter to end Sept 07 was added after all the broo-haa about the first weekends sales when Apple announced its final quarter sales to end June 07 which included the last two days of June iPhone sales.
@lowell,
actually, I think the iPod might actually help accelerate iPhone sales, especially outside of the US. Take Germany for example: In Germany, as in the rest of Europe, SIM locking is illegal, but the iPhone will be sold exclusively, apparently, through T-Mobile. I believe that when people realize that for only €100 more than the touch they can get the iPhone, they will choose the iPhone and continue to use their current mobile provider. If the iPhone sold through t-Mobile is indeed unlocked, I will get the 8 gig model and continue to use Vodafone as my provider.
me was correct … straight-line projections from today’s numbers through the end of next year don’t make it to the 10 million figure predicted. ian is an idiot attempting to be taken seriously while spelling “words” like an ignorant child. Balmer seems to have been correct … a mere 6% of the market? The poor iPhone is in a niche already!
OK, enough of the over-simplifications. The current numbers are based primarily on U.S. sales to an anxious market at an inflated price. The market should expand to include several additional countries by the end of the year, several more (many more?) by the end of 2008. That would seem likely to increase the sales significantly. The market is no longer anxious, the early adopters (in the U.S.) have been sated, this should lower sales somewhat. The price is now less inflated … this could increase the sales or cut the sales, depending on if this is seen as a luxury item or a merely expensive utility item.
My guess is that the original high prices kept the sales down to a point where manufacturing could keep up with them, that the limit to the AT&T;portion of the U.S. market also helped keep the sales manageable as well as allowed the marketing folk to get a handle on how well the product performed. As it turns out, these two limitations could NOT keep a significant number of the stores from running out of stock in the first days of the sale, but DID keep the outages manageable. Sales goals were exceeded despite the high price – rather than because of it – and can be expected to be bested again and again at the new lower prices, especially as new models are introduced.
Don’t beat up on me for pointing out the obvious – that the numbers we have predict a shortfall. It is our expectations that so strongly suggest that sales will go nowhere but up, and our expectations are entirely reasonable – a larger market (the world) and a lower price (30% off?) typically have that effect on sales curves. Let Balmer suck eggs with Apple managing a mere 10%-30% of the smart-phone market … you’re in a niche until you become an effective monopoly, 49% is still a niche if one company owns the rest.
Dave
I’ve already seen several blog posts and an article that say this is bad news for Apple. 1 million iPhones mean a bigger chunk of money goes to rebates… only 1 million “Apple faithful…” demand will soon drop off… iPhone already outdated…
Only Apple gets this kind of bizzaro-world press. If Apple doubles their market share the company is REALLY going to be in trouble!!!
>.<
@me
Oh…and one more thing: it’s not “allot”, it’s “a lot”.
I don’t have iPhone and i am not planning to buy one anytime soon. However, i am not surprised to see this news. IPhone simply is the best all in one small device out there (If you dissagree, you are an idiot).
My prediction is, iphone and ipod touch will out sell iPod and/or simply all ipod turn into all in one device like ipod touch someday.
I am still waiting for ipod touch to have at least 20 gb then i will be ready to buy. Knowing to have Internet in my pocket is just extremely useful.
@DLMeyer,
You have some very odd views. And you need to look up the meaning of the word niche.
“49% is still a niche if one company owns the rest.”
HUH!?!
C1-
I tole you so
I still think Ballmer will still be right. Windows Mobile is so much ahead of the curve, and its embraced by so many businesses, iPhone will just be a niche player. It can’t work with corporate collaboration services, so it’s growth is already hampered and limited. This is probably its peak in sales.
Thank you for a good MDN Take.
You explain what you have compared (projected iPhone 2007Q3 to reported smart phone worldwide 2006Q4); why this kind of slightly unorthodox comparison (because these were the best numbers available); and what can and cannot be concluded.
I appreciate a lot knowing what I am reading.
@DLMeyer
I am with you,
Does anyone know this information??
I read that Apple went on sale with 300k in stock, and production of 150k per month
“the original high prices kept the sales down to a point where manufacturing could keep up with them, “
With the iPod Touch using many of the same/type of parts, what is the production per month of the 2 combined??
I heard they are gearing up to 1.5 million per month? does anyone have firm info??
Big problem with the iPhone
It doesn’t have enough memory/storage.
As soon as it has 30GB or more, able to run a office type applications and act like a storage device between computers, that you’ll see a INCREDIBLE INCREASE IN SALES.
However since Apple debuted the iPod Touch, it seems they are planning a exit stragedy OUT OF THE CELL PHONE MARKET.
I think Apple will do much better getting out of this cell phone market and instead using a seperate device connected to the iPod Touch to receive internet via phone lines.
This is the reasons:
1: Cell market is incredibly cut-throat, a few phones given away for free for contracts. Most of all customers to cell phone stores buy the cheapest phones. Most only want a cheap, low cost phone that if they lose it or break it, it’s no big deal to get another.
2: Apple sells PREMIUM devices which fall into the catagory of “Smartphones” which the iPhone is only a small portion of a small portion of the total cell phone market.
3: In order for Apple to REALLY get into the cell market they would have to produce a REALLY CHEAP ASS PHONE, with better bells and whistles than the competition. How can Apple do that and make decent margins is uncertain, as they use the same cheap labor as the competition.
4: Even if Apple came out with a cheap ass phone with more features than the competition, the others would copy and improve on it’s features virtually overnight! (aka Chinese iPhone)
5: The cell phone market is filled with smart competitors, because miniturizing electronics is a difficult task. Apple gained the upper hand in the portable Mp3 player market because the competition was rather lame and a lot of the smart competition saw Satalight radio and monthly fee’s was the future of music. Plus Apple was able to convince the Labels to try a experiment with the iPod and given Mac’s low market share they didn’t realize Steve was going to jump ship to the Windows platform to sell iPods. Nobody expected that move because of Apple’s history. However Apple isn’t going to be able to fool anyone with that trick ever again.
So I think Apple will give this cell phone thing a try, expect a 16GB iPhone come January MacWorld, or afterwards depending on the holiday sales volume with the new price point.
I didn’t think Apple was going to enter the cell phone market, because of the intense competition and monopoly on medicore sales at carrier stores, but they did. Perhaps a few million iPhone sales is good enough for them to make a profit, but I don’t think they are going to last or gain sigificant market share.
I simply love my cheap, slim phone with long battery life. I don’t even know it’s in my pocket, but it’s there if I need it.
The iPod Touch and iPhone’s screen is just too small.
Did anyone notice that Steve Jobs is NearSighted?
That’s right, he can’t see far away, when he uses the iPod Touch he takes his glasses off.
@DLMeyer
Speaking of niche in your tense, means MS is a very small niche player in this market.
One word Symbian.
I think the ipod touch will cut a little into the iphone’s market. If Apple could somehow work out a deal to go on other networks, its market would explode.
As of June 30 2007:
Symbian smartphone OS share for Q2 2007 is 72%, according to Canalys 1
As of Oct 2006
-Windows Mobile market share in smartphone market falls from 18 to 16.9 percent It was 18% last year in Q3, but this year in Q3 it has fallen from 18 % to 16.9 %. The main reason: market share of Symbian increased.
As of 30 June 2007:
18.7 million Symbian smartphones shipped by licensees in Q2 2007, up 52% from Q2 2006 (12.3 million)
The iPhone is certainly giving its competitors a run for their money right from the get-go. By comparison, the RAZR—another legendary phone—debuted at $500 to a similarly captive audience and sold 750,000 units during its first three months on the market.
There is no chance that Steve Ballmer would ever admit he was wrong. He’s not that sort of person. He would always evade the question or just laugh that the figure is still insignificant in the grand scheme of things. My advice is to just ignore him and be happy with the iPhone’s early success.
Right now I think it is too early to be jumping and screaming “slam-dunk”. There is still a LOT of work to be done with worldwide introduction. There’s no guarantee that a 2G EDGE phone will be a success in all of Europe. There is no confirmation on a 3G iPhone yet. Just speculation. I think a six months evaluation of the iPhone in all markets would be in order before we start yelling it’s a huge success. I hope it will be, but I’m not going to get carried away. Maybe a year from now when it dominates the high-end handset market we’ll be able to sit back and say, “I told ya so.” But until that time, listen strictly to Apple’s information and not some stupid blogger’s rumors or analyst’s numbers.