On January 9, 2007, Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone at the MacWorld Conference in San Francisco. It has subsequently sold over one billion units
IPHONE ROOTS
How Steve Jobs introduced iPhone
“Widescreen iPod with touch controls; Revolutionary mobile phone; Breakthrough internet communicator”
Aug 2, 1993: Apple Newton MessagePad. Much-maligned for poor handwriting recognition. Later models improve it. Discontinued 1998
Sep 7, 2005: Motorola ROKR E1 mobile phone, includes Apple’s iTunes *music software. Jobs unhappy with lack of control over handset design
June 29, 2007: iPhone (using 2G technology) goes on sale at 6:00pm in U.S. Apple stores, to huge public demand. Design overseen by Chief Design Officer, Jony Ive and his 15-strong international team. iPhone was developed secretly with AT&T (then Cingular) over two-and-a-half years. Telecom giant has five-year U.S. sales exclusivity deal with Apple. In return it pays tech firm $10 per month from every iPhone customer’s bill.
Sep 10, 2007: iPhone sales surpass one million
Nov 12, 2007: iPhone lands on cover of Time magazine for "changing phones forever"
Nov 2007: iPhone begins international roll out starting with UK, France and Germany
July 8, 2008: iPhone 3G goes on sale to even greater acclaim. Similar to first device but with GPS, 3G data and tri-band functionality added. App Store opens, allowing iPhone owners to buy/download applications. Developers receive 70% share of app earnings.
June 19, 2009: iPhone 3GS arrives, with "S" standing for "speed". Other improvements include higher resolution 3MP camera and video capability
Apr 3, 2010: iPad goes on sale, featuring 9.7in touchscreen
June 24, 2010: iPhone 4 hits retail with new high- resolution Retina Display and Facetime video chat using additional front- facing camera
Oct 5, 2011: Steve Jobs dies of pancreatic cancer. His last words are, "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow"
Oct 14, 2011: iPhone 4s delivers major internal upgrades and 8MP camera with 1080p video recording. iOS 5 introduces iCloud and iMessage
Sep 21, 2012: New Apple CEO Tim Cook oversees iPhone 5, with taller screen
May 16, 2013: App Store marks 50 billionth download. Customers are downloading more than 800 apps every second
Sep 20, 2013: iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c go on sale. Former includes major internal upgrades, latter offers cheap, colourful plastic chassis
Sep 19, 2014: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus arrive in stores, with bigger 4.7in and 5.5in displays respectively. They feature faster chips, improved Wi-Fi, upgraded cameras and Apple Pay †
Apr 24, 2015: Apple Watch released
Sep 25, 2015: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus go on sale. Upgrade improves hardware and introduces 3D Touch, which enables pressure-sensitive touch inputs
Mar 31, 2016: iPhone SE (Special Edition) squeezes workings of iPhone 6s into iPhone 5s form factor
Sep 16, 2016: iPhone 7/ iPhone 7 Plus released. Removes headphone jack,adds water resistance and 12MP camera
2017 : iPhone 8 rumoured to be major departure. No Home Button, with all-display front surface
IPHONE PRODUCTION CYCLE
--> Apple designs iPhone in Cupertino, California
--> Components sourced mostly in Asia and shipped to Foxconn (Zhengzhou, Shenzen) and Pegatron (Shanghai). Factory "cities" assemble millions of iPhones while Apple finalises iOS operating system in Cupertino, Zhengzhou CHN Shenzhen Shanghai Pacific Ocean USA Cupertino
--> Completed iPhones flown to global distribution centres – one FedEx Boeing 777 can carry 450,000 iPhones
--> Apple announces new iPhone at media event, making them available to customers worldwide almost immediately
