Eighty-five million. 85,000,000. That's the number of iPhone OS devices that Apple has sold since the iPhone's launch in 2007. In case you were wondering, that's a lot. Historical, in fact. There is no getting around it, people buy these Apple products like crazy, and they have for almost three years. With the introduction of the iPad, there is just one more device to add to the total. And one more device for people to complain about.
Since the return of Steve Jobs to Apple, people have complained about how controlling Apple has become, specifically with regards to the iPhone and its ecosystem. The arguments are that Apple curtails innovation by being so closed, and there would be more opportunities for innovation if the system were more open. Maybe that's true. However, my response to that is who really cares? People buy these devices. People spend hundreds of aftermarket dollars on apps and accessories. People see advertisements in those apps. These people, 85 million strong. So evidently the answer to my question cannot be answered with “the consumer.”
So that leaves us with developers. Here we can ask a different question: do they really care? Some undoubtedly do. You hear or read from time to time of a developer boycotting the iPhone ecosystem because of the lack of openness. Even developers who stay with the platform gripe about how the system is broken. Their main complaint is that Apple has an irregular (to put it mildly) application approval process. Some get denied for seemingly no, or weird, reasons; while other apps, that should by Apple’s own standards be denied, are still in the App Store.
Hypocrisy? Maybe. But I am more apt to think that it has to do with the sheer number of apps that need to be approved. The store currently holds around 160,000 apps. Those all came into existence in the last two years. That’s about 220 apps per day. Now Apple is a big corporation, but that’s a lot of app reviewing that needs to be done quickly. It’s no wonder why things slip through that probably shouldn’t, and some things get rejected that ought not.
Article comments
1 - CS
Your iPhone numbers are out of whack. They have only sold 50 Million in total from 2007 till Q1 of 2010, see Wikipedia.
Realize Nokia sold nearly 500 Million cell phones in 2009 alone, Samsung over 200 million in 2009, etc. . . Apple isn't even in the game yet. They are a "North American" provider at best with a lot of excessive hype surrounding them for all the little things they do with people like you making it sound like they bigger than they really are.
RIM leads them 2:1 in smartphones here, Android is currently selling on a daily basis near the same numbers as the iphone, etc. . . just like their computers the iPhone is a niche device. Only delusional Apple fans see it otherwise and blow things out of proportion.
2 - Matthew Weber
Quoting from my article I said " That's the number of iPhone OS devices." This number includes iPod Touch's not just iPhone. And I never said Apple was the leader. I said people complain about Apple.
3 - texan
Nokia/Samsung sell more because they arent just held to ONE carrier (At&t)HELLO,if apple was with other carriers the sales would be HUGE...
4 - Matthew Weber
@texan Agree
5 - J Downs
"Realize Nokia sold nearly 500 Million cell phones in 2009 alone, Samsung over 200 million in 2009, etc. "
Ha CS, Nokia doesn't make phones, they rebrand them. And those are cellphones, not smartphones. And what were the margins on those phones? RIM? Ha, sell short.
6 - J Downs
One more reply to CS:
"They are a "North American" provider at best with a lot of excessive hype surrounding them for all the little things they do with people like you making it sound like they bigger than they really are."
Ha, Apple is the fourth-highest capitalized company in the United States, and has record quarters every 4 months.
7 - Matthew Weber
I love Android. I think, however, the problem Android is already having is that it is too fragmented. There are many different versions of Android on the market, and the updates may never come to some handsets. This is where maybe Google should exert some control.
8 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
"Mac owners didn't care that you couldn't get all the hardware options of the PCs in those days..."
It wasn't hardware options that was lacking back then, it was software compatibility. Businesses are what made the PC popular because they were cheaper. Macs almost died because of the software issues but they excelled in the hardware department because you didn't need to buy extra peripherals in order to get the full experience nor did the core OS need drivers to handle simple tasks BUT they were costly.
Personally, I think the App Store was a brilliant idea for a phone-like mobile device but for a device that wants to compete with Netbooks and/or Laptops, I think the "Walled Garden" approach isn't sufficient enough.
9 - El Loco
"developers, please stop complaining, or stop programming for the platform. Those are your two options."
The third option is to keep complaining and to keep programming for the platform. What you're saying there is similar to telling my girlfriend that she has two choices "either stop complaining about my nasty man habits or break up with me." The choice is over-simplified, and we know the likely outcome - she'll stay, and she'll keep complaining.
10 - Evan Povich
As soon as Apple closed off the ability to replace the battery on your own something fishy was going on with Apple trying to create additional run arounds. Nokia and Blackberry do not have a problem with consumers purchasing additional batteries and replacing it themselves. Apple forces the consumer to ship their iPhone back, charge a much higher replacement fee to make a profit. Something so simple has to be complicated by Apple for additional revenue.
11 - Hubert Miles
As a part-time developer and iphone user, I find that although it is a pain sometimes, it is one of those necessary evils that I must adapt to in order capitalize on the Apple's growing popularity. I am certain the new IPad will only grow Apple's brand that much more.