It started out as Project Purple over 20 years ago and went on to take over the world.
That was the name given to effort that eventually became Apple’s (AAPL) first iPhone.
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Project Purple centered around the creation of two competing phone models.
One was based on the iPod nano portable media player dubbed P1. The other model—code name P2—was a multi-touch device that went on to become the iPhone.
“It was like the first moon mission,” Tony Fadell, an executive who worked on the project, told the New York Times in 2013. “I’m used to a certain level of unknowns in a project, but there were so many new things here that was just staggering.”
Steve Jobs, Apple’s then-CEO, steered the original focus away from a tablet and toward a phone. He unveiled the first-generation iPhone to the public on Jan. 9, 2007, at the Macworld 2007 convention in San Francisco.
“iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone,” Jobs said during his keynote speech.
Apple CEO Tim Cook’s company is scheduled to report earnings soon.
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Apple’s iPhone is most popular smartphone
Today, the iPhone has a 28% market share in the global smartphone industry. There are over 1.38 billion active iPhone users worldwide, including 155 million in the U.S.
It’s safe to say that the iPhone has changed the way people live, as it combines the mobile phone and the computer into one device.
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A survey in 2011 found that a third of respondents would rather give up sex for seven days than go without a smartphone within reach–and 70% of these people were female.
And a 2018 study found that one in ten millennials would be willing to lose a finger if it meant they could keep their smartphone. (Yikes!)
The iPhone accounts for more than half of the tech giant’s revenue, but Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, is going to cost the company some heavy bucks.
Apple has agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the world’s most valuable company of using Siri to eavesdrop on people using its iPhone and other devices, the Associated Press reported on Jan. 2.
The company is not acknowledging any wrongdoing in the settlement, which still must be approved by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White.
The proposed settlement, filed in Oakland, California, federal court, would resolve a 5-year-old lawsuit involving allegations that Apple surreptitiously activated Siri to record conversations through iPhones and other devices equipped with the virtual assistant for more than a decade.
If the settlement is approved, tens of millions of consumers who owned iPhones and other Apple devices from Sept. 17, 2014, through the end of last year could file claims.
Meanwhile, multiple media reports suggest that Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 suite of handsets will be 6.25 mm slimmer than earlier versions.
The measurement is roughly in line with other claims that suggest the iPhone 17 Air will be 25% thinner than the iPhone 16 Pro.
Analyst cites early signs of iPhone 16 approval
Apple, which is scheduled to report first quarter results on Jan. 30, has seen its shares climb about 35% from a year ago.
Jim Kelleher, director of research at Argus, raised his price target on Apple to $280 from $250 on Jan. 6. He increased his earnings estimates for fiscal 2025 due to positive iPhone sales despite disappointing sales in China.
In October, Apple said iPhone’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 5.5% from last year to a record of $46.22 billion, topping Wall Street forecasts.
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However, China sales were largely flat compared with last year at $15.03 billion as the world’s second-largest economy’s post-Covid recovery continued to sputter.
In November, foreign mobile phone shipments in China stood at 3.04 million units, down 47.4% year on year, according to CNBC calculations using official Chinese data.
Apple accounts for most foreign mobile phone shipments in China, with major competitors like Samsung forming a tiny part of the market.
China is the world’s largest smartphone market and Apple is contending with rising competition from domestic brands.
Huawei Technologies, which U.S. sanctions have battered, has aggressively launched high-end smartphones in China that have proved popular with local buyers.
Apple is looking to deliver its version of AI, dubbed Apple Intelligence, to its 2.2 billion global user base largely through iPhone 16, which was released on Sept. 20.
Kelleher said there are early signs that the iPhone 16 is receiving a solid reception, while some sources suggest that demand for the iPhone 16 Pro might be lagging.
Although iPhone sales continue to struggle in China, the analyst said he believes the iPhone continues expanding its global footprint.
Apple’s Asian suppliers have said that the iPhone 16 is selling in line with its own expectations, he said, noting that neither Apple nor its suppliers have announced any curb in production.
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