More iOS Devices Sold in 2011 Than Macs in Last 28 Years
Though Apple began as a computer company, it's common knowledge that Cupertino's other products, such as the iPad, iPod and iPhone, are massive money-makers. The company's latest earnings report revealed that Apple sold 37.04 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads in the fourth quarter of last year. By comparison, the number of Macs shipped in the same quarter was just 5.2 million. Not a small number by any stretch of the imagination, but definitely not at the level of the iPhone and iPad. In fact, the iPad and iPhone are so wildly successful that all the Macs sold in nearly three decades still can't match up to iOS device sales in terms of units.
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently revealed 55 million iPads to date, adding that it took five years to achieve that number with the iPod, and 22 years for the Mac (as noted by Fortune here). This got the folks over at Asymco thinking about unit sales across Apple's product portfolio and how long each device had been on sale. Horace Dediu writes that the iOS platform overtook OS X in less than four years and that last year alone, the number of iOS devices sold amounted to more than the number of Macs sold, well, ever.
Of course, it's impossible to deny the success of the iPad or the iPhone (or even the iPod touch) considering the number of units sold, but it's also hard to ignore the fact that these are all significantly cheaper than the price of the cheapest Apple computer. Throw in the fact that smartphones are on a 12-month refresh cycle (as is the iPad) whereas people tend to hold on to their computers for much longer than that, and these crazy numbers start to make a little bit more sense. Just a little!
- Apple,
- Business,
- iOS-Devices ,
- Macs ,
- iPad ,
- iPhone ,
- Unit-Sales
- Lego Finally Announces Minecraft-Themed Sets
- BioWare Lead Writer Says Goodbye To Industry
- Google's Cloud Storage Service 'Drive' Spotted in the Wild
- Deals Feb. 17: 24" Dell UltraSharp IPS LCD $299
- Sandisk Acquires SSD Caching Know-How
- HP CEO: Android Will Become Closed Source
- Sony's PS Vita Gets the Teardown Treatment
- SSDs Have Bleak Future, Says Researchers
- Apple Gives Mac OS X a Dose of iOS with Mountain Lion
- Microsoft Unveils a Brand New Windows Logo
- Nvidia Promises Tegra 3 Smartphones Before End of March
- OnLive Weekend Sale Sees DNF, AvP Reduced to $5, More
- Google Says Faster Chromebooks On The Way
- DRAM Manufacturers Ramp Up Production
- Scientist Finds Way To Control DNA-based Computations
- Researchers Create Single-Atom Transistor
- Photo Shows Possible iPad 3 CPU/GPU as 'A5X' System on Chip
- Microsoft Extends Support Lifecycle for Windows 7 and Vista
*yawn*
apple pwned itself.
They created a gem. We get it..
Well it takes time to breed sheep
In other news, Consumer pre-purchase product research has declined severely over the last 5 years.
People love those i-Phones
iToysrus
The people are growing more and more ignorant by the day. Sad commentary on the information revolution.
In other news, Microsoft has sold as many Windows Phones, as Apple has sold Macs in 28 years.
OK I admit, I just made that up. It wouldn't surprise me, though.
How can you compare phone sales to computer sales. They have clearly nothing to do with each other.
How can you compare phone sales to computer sales. They have clearly nothing to do with each other.
its an apple product compared to their old main product... THEY HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH EACHOTHER
The people are growing more and more ignorant by the day. Sad commentary on the information revolution.
who knew you those words would be so true just 2 posts later.
In other news people are more stupid then they were 28 years ago.
That shows how shitty macs were in first place. iOS only took off due to their silly pretty glossy fragile devices.
Im sure Steve Jobs death had nothing to do with this.....
Can someone please tell will they continue the Mac Pro & Pro products...
Well, if I could get a Mac Pro for $199 with a 2 year commitment to my ISP, I would sure go through a few of them.
In other news apple has ribbed off more people then they did 28 years ago.
In other news people are more stupid then they were 28 years ago.
In a few years the world will be using Gatorade to grow plants.
I don't think Mac are shitty. They are just drm infested overpriced locked-down devices often riddled with sub-par hardware configured to jail the user. Were Apple more open, I would consider owning one of their laptops as long as I could ditch OS X and cover their silly logo with some skin-- yes, I could even put up with their ugly boring looking cases. By the way, Apple is not the only company making ugly uninspired cases.
I Would also like their laptops to be more upgradable and serviceable. Another of my criticisms of Apple is that as a result of extreme advertising, it grants a make-belief sense of technological sophistication on sheeple who think flashing the Apple logo while wearing clothes that color match their Macs is synonymous with being a member of the technocracy. Sadly, Euclid's dictum about geometry also applies to technology-- "there is no royal path to technology". You've got to do your homework and keep up with the times, or you could end-up living on some cloud bankrupt and
clueless. No pun intended.
@del
So wrong, on every front....
DRM infested? I`m guessing you are referring to itunes, in which case you can use VLC or any other music application. Ditch OSX, no problem easily done, subit query to your favourite search engine and be amazed. On the topic of upgradeability my 13" MPB is one of the easiest laptops to upgrade I`ve owned. Doubt it? try ifixit.com.
You claim technological sophistication yet these simple facts effortlessly slipped by you.
LOL
Apple was the first company to come out with a decent phone OS for PDA style phones. Windows Mobile 6.1 was GARBAGE. And I used it heavily and modded the hell out of it with cooked ROM's so I'd like to think I know how much of a PITA it was to use. Even after the best and most user friendly, easy to use ROM was loaded it still wasn't a quarter of the phone that the iphone was on day 1. Apple's phone was first to the market and it stuck. It was a much needed refresh to what was out at the time. I will also say that after owning both iphone and android based device, my iphone is far more stable and reliable. Applications tend to work better on an iphone.
People can hate on Apple, I know I did before I tried the iphone, but you cannot ignore a good quality product just because it's "locked down". The phone is locked down to prevent retarded crap from happening which inevitably does when you leave things "open and free". I'm all for open source and free applications and all that nonsense, but I NEED MY PHONE TO WORK ALL THE TIME AND CORRECTLY! I see more people fiddling with nonsense on android based devices than any other type of phone, and yes I'm sure some of you are techs and have the knowledge to make it work properly, but who the hell puts a phone out that only works properly if you are technical enough to use it. It's a frickin phone for christ sake, were not hackin the planet. iPhone is simple, dumb, and efficient as a mother f'r.
Apple may suck as a company in terms of policy but the iPhone does not suck. Not even close.
I really wish people would make intelligent comments based on actual fact rather than just jumping on the hate bandwagon....Talk about sheep...
And again bashing a company because it has followers who believe they are above everyone else because they own an apple product is silly. If Apple didn't exist then those people would still think they are above everyone else because they have a bigger house, drive a Lexus, etc. Those people will always be those people, regardless of what a company does. Intelligent technical people use mac's all the time and enjoy them.
Oh and on a side note.... Please fix your website Tom's. If I have to click on compatibility view to do anything properly on this website when I'm using IE9 and Windows 7 64bit ( all pretty darn standard ) then you are doing something very wrong. Not to mention you have the worst picture viewing methods for a website I've ever encountered.
Didn't know Apple II lasted 17 years. Played pacman on one. That's basically what it was good at only.
Apple was the first company to come out with a decent phone OS for PDA style phones. Windows Mobile 6.1 was GARBAGE. And I used it heavily and modded the hell out of it with cooked ROM's so I'd like to think I know how much of a PITA it was to use. Even after the best and most user friendly, easy to use ROM was loaded it still wasn't a quarter of the phone that the iphone was on day 1. Apple's phone was first to the market and it stuck. It was a much needed refresh to what was out at the time. I will also say that after owning both iphone and android based device, my iphone is far more stable and reliable. Applications tend to work better on an iphone. People can hate on Apple, I know I did before I tried the iphone, but you cannot ignore a good quality product just because it's "locked down". The phone is locked down to prevent retarded crap from happening which inevitably does when you leave things "open and free". I'm all for open source and free applications and all that nonsense, but I NEED MY PHONE TO WORK ALL THE TIME AND CORRECTLY! I see more people fiddling with nonsense on android based devices than any other type of phone, and yes I'm sure some of you are techs and have the knowledge to make it work properly, but who the hell puts a phone out that only works properly if you are technical enough to use it. It's a frickin phone for christ sake, were not hackin the planet. iPhone is simple, dumb, and efficient as a mother f'r. Apple may suck as a company in terms of policy but the iPhone does not suck. Not even close.I really wish people would make intelligent comments based on actual fact rather than just jumping on the hate bandwagon....Talk about sheep...And again bashing a company because it has followers who believe they are above everyone else because they own an apple product is silly. If Apple didn't exist then those people would still think they are above everyone else because they have a bigger house, drive a Lexus, etc. Those people will always be those people, regardless of what a company does. Intelligent technical people use mac's all the time and enjoy them.
Yes. Yes windows 6.1 is...sad thing is, I still have one of those phones because my parents are too cheap to buy me an upgrade -.- They run so slow..
Buy an Apple. Support their hostile ideology of killing off all competition as to have a full monopoly!
P.S.
The entrance fee for iOS is also 1/10 of most Mac systems today. No-brainer.
I don't think Mac are shitty. They are just drm infested overpriced locked-down devices often riddled with sub-par hardware configured to jail the user.
Mac usually uses high quality parts. I also don;t think the chassis are particularly ugly and are even somewhat good looking if a little bland and with obviously no diversity. The aluminum cases are solid and more durable than most PC Notebooks (probably because Mac users are generally less computer literate and more likely to dmg them
And obviously I think I stand with most people on these forums in that I would NEVER touch OS X.
However, the iPhone is a good device since its not particularly well locked down, has a good build and good hardware if a little more expensive and overly-featured for my needs in a phone (or anyone's? who the hell need's the capacity of the iPhone? Phones $200 less are still a: expensive and b: do everything you're going to need.)
I love it when al lthe Apple haters come out for every Apple related article. Get over it. lol
How can you compare phone sales to computer sales. They have clearly nothing to do with each other.
Exactly! Its a useless article, aside from the numbers. And pulls the chip-on-their-shoulder crowd out to bash.
Cars have microchips in them, surely there are more cars sold than iPads, that makes Toyota the worlds biggest computer company.
Cars have microchips in them, surely there are more cars sold than iPads, that makes Toyota the worlds biggest computer company.
Uh... no. During 2011, Apple sold roughly 40 million iPads worldwide. It takes Toyota about 5 years to make the same number of cars. Couple that with 37 million iPhone 4S since November and you get the full picture...