Today the world is celebrating the 7th anniversary of the iPhone launch – the smartphone that changed the world forever. However, not everyone was optimistic of Apple’s foray into the smartphone market seven years ago. As a matter of fact, many high profile bloggers and analysts were predicting doom and gloom for the yet to be announced iPhone.
Here’s a gem from one such report:
[su_quote cite=”Bill Ray” url=”http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/23/iphone_will_fail/?page=1″]Apple will launch a mobile phone in January, and it will become available during 2007. It will be a lovely bit of kit, a pleasure to behold, and its limited functionality will be easy to access and use.
The Apple phone will be exclusive to one of the major networks in each territory and some customers will switch networks just to get it, but not as many as had been hoped.
As customers start to realise that the competition offers better functionality at a lower price, by negotiating a better subsidy, sales will stagnate. After a year a new version will be launched, but it will lack the innovation of the first and quickly vanish.[/su_quote]
That was a fail by epic proportions. But you can reassure that the same is being said of the Apple’s rumoured iWatch.
Here’s what Jon Markman had to say about the rumoured iWatch:
[su_quote cite=“Jon Markman” url=“http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonmarkman/2014/06/24/watch-out-when-apple-goes-for-the-wrist/”]
In summary, the smartwatch is a solution in search of a problem. Tech companies like Apple want to sell them because they have run out of other ways to sell you their schlock, but that does not mean there will ever be a mass-market demand for them.
I have a feeling I will still be writing about the smartwatch frontier ten years from now, when Apple releases v5.0 and swears they will get it right this time after repeated flops on the wrist.[/su_quote]
My point is that when analysts and pundits predict Apple’s doom, don’t worry. Most of us have seen this movie before and it doesn’t end will for the critics.
The iPhone since 2007 since 29 June, 2007:
Apple iPhone by the numbers
- Launch day: June 29, 2007 – [su_highlight background=”#ceff99″]iPhone sales since launch: 536 million[/su_highlight]
- iPhones sold in 2007: 1.3 million – [su_highlight background=”#ceff99″]iPhones sold in 2013: 150 million[/su_highlight]
- [su_highlight background=”#ceff99″]Biggest selling iPhone: iPhone 5S[/su_highlight]
- Apple apps available: 1.2 million – [su_highlight]Apple app downloads: 75 billion[/su_highlight]
- [su_highlight]Weekly visits to App Store: 300 million[/su_highlight]
