Apple CEO Tim Cook has stressed that, despite widespread belief and evidence that it's already occurred, demand for the iPhone won't stall.
The company sold 47.8 million iPhones during 2012's fourth quarter, with worries that Apple will eventually see demand stall in regards to the number of consumers to whom it can sell the device. Either way, analysts expected the smartphone to sell over 50 million units because of the release of the iPhone. Soon after its earnings report, the firm lost its place as the world's most valuable company.
However, since the iPhone 5's launch, Samsung and Android-powered handsets have replaced Apple as the leading smartphone manufacturer in the U.S. and internationally.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Cook said that the smartphone market will reach the 1.4 billion mark within the next four years, an increase from the current 700 million units. However, "there's a lot more people in the world than 1.4 billion, and people love to upgrade their phones fairly regularly," he stated.
Apple sold more than 500 million iOS devices since the iPhone's inception back in 2007; however, 40 percent from that figure was from 2012. Cook remains optimistic, though. He said, "So there's incredible momentum there. Frankly speaking, I see a wide open field. It may surprise you, but iPhone is only available to about 50 percent of the subscribers in the world."
Cook recently confirmed that Apple is looking to make its products more affordable, inevitably hinting at the existence of a low-cost iPhone for emerging markets. He also said that Apple is "unrivaled" in innovation and stressed that the firm has no limits.
Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Zak Islam is a freelance writer focusing on security, networking, and general computing. His work also appears at Digital Trends and Tom's Guide.
-
lahawzel fkrI also believe I am going to win the lottery every time I playImpressive. Most impressive.Reply -
"I also believe I am going to win the lottery every time I play"Reply
It's funny you post that, because Apple literally wins the lottery every quarter. Really, they pull in as much cash in pure profit as would be in a large lottery winning. Every quarter. Maybe your meant to be snide, but it just shows how incredible Apple has been performing recently. -
vaughn2k "Apple Believes that iPhone Demand Won't Stall"Reply
Because Apple believes there are still plenty of suckers out there...
http://allthingsd.com/20121102/jimmy-kimmel-on-the-ipad-mini-were-apple-and-youre-suckers/ -
huggles12 In my opinion, Apples success is their own potential downfall. The Apple logo was it's most powerful selling tool. It was synonymous with exclusiveness and elitism. Now, every man and his dog have an Apple product, and the appeal to own one is now diminishing. It'll be interesting to see how Apple deals with this conundrum.Reply -
blazorthon aznguy0028The reality distortion field is fully charged captain, running at 110% capacity!Reply
Captain's dead and the first officer doesn't know how to run it as effectively. I'd say that the Apple RDS is at a record low since the iPhone first came out, maybe even going further back to iPod stuff.