No matter what you are talking about, 1 billion of anything is a big number. And a milestone, too.
Dick and Mac McDonald opened their first McDonald’s in 1940, and it took 23 years for the restaurant chain to sell its 1 billionth hamburger. (For the record, Ray Kroc, the man credited with turning McDonald’s into MCDONALD’S, became the restaurant’s first franchisee in 1954.)
Facebook, founded in 2004, took until 2012 to reach 1 billion users. Three years later, Facebook had its first 1 billion-user-day, on August 27, 2015.
And just this year, the Rolling Stones played “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” for the 1 billionth time since Keith Richards wrote the second-greatest song of the rock era in 1965.* (OK, we might be fudging the 1 billion figure here. But, if you have seen the Stones play any time since Lyndon Johnson was president, they certainly have performed “Satisfaction,” in concert when you did, so it might seem like they’ve played it a billion times.)
Even for Apple, a company accustomed to selling a lot of everything it makes, reaching 1 billion sales of a product is a Big Deal. And, as such, on Wednesday, Chief Executive Tim Cook thought it important to point out that Apple had just sold its 1 billionth iPhone, nine years after Steve Jobs unveiled the first model of the smartphone.
In a letter to Apple employees, Cook acknowledged Apple’s 1 billionth iPhone, saying that it “has become one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in history,” and thanked all of the company’s employees for making the iPhone such a success.
“We never set out to make the most, but we’ve always set out to make the best products that make a difference,” Cook said.
Apple’s noting of the 1 billionth iPhone sold came one day after the company reported better-than-expected third-quarter results. Apple said it sold 40.4 million iPhones in the quarter, which was down 15 percent from the same period a year ago. However, the company managed to squeeze past analysts’ forecasts for 40 million iPhone sales, which was seen as a victory for Apple.
Apple has historically released a new iPhone model every fall since the original iPhone’s debut. The company is expected to hold an event in September to show off what many are already calling the iPhone 7, and have the smartphone on sale in time for the important Christmas and holiday shopping season.
(*For the record, the greatest song of the rock era is “September Gurls” by Big Star, a song that sounds as perfect on the 1 billionth play as it did on the first.)
Photo: Apple CEO Tim Cook shows off the 1 billionth iPhone sold. (Courtesy Apple)
The post Apple reaches milestone: 1 billion iPhones sold appeared first on SiliconBeat.
