A Quick Recap of Apple iPhones Origins

A Brief History of the Apple iPhone

Known for making a large variety of advanced technical products, Apple has become a famous brand name among consumers. People began talking about Apple’s new iPhone long before it was released in June 2007, decisions were made about the essentials it would have, and what new technologies might come with it. It was no surprise, that what had people talking was the idea of having an incredible new ground-breaking device, that would be an iPod, mobile phone and tool for accessing the internet all in one.

Launching Apple iPhones

The visible or at least documented history of the Apple iPhone starts with the instruction of Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, instructing engineers to start researching touch screens, which at that time he probably still had the development of Apple tablet PCs in mind. Steve Jobs announced in a conference held in April 2003, that Apple would not be focusing their attention on traditional PDAs or tablet PCs.

The new direction was to move forward in evolving the technologies used in cell phones and the options provided with them. Word got out during the January 2007 MacWorld Expo, that the Apple iPhone was going to be released to consumers in June of that same year. At another conference that same year, it was revealed that the Apple iPhone would sustain third parties which would create Web 2.0 applications and that users could access this through the internet.

Consumer Ready and Future Developments

When the Apple iPhone went public on June 29, 2007 hundreds of people began to line up in front of stores before opening hours in order to be amongst the first let in, so they could quickly grab one. At first when the Apple iPhone was introduced to the public, it was available in either a 4GB for $499 or 8GB for $599 however, it was quickly evident that the 8GB was far more popular in demand, so Apple soon stopped making the 4GB.

Moreover, as a further development, the price was radically reduced by $200 in September, for which Apple was quite widely attacked because the sudden drop in price was believed to be unfair. Apple iPhone’s initial popularity was not close to the level Apple had anticipated it would be.

For example, the sales for the first weekend were initially estimated to be somewhere between 200,000 and 700,000 products. However, only approximately 145,000 iPhone activations were registered that first weekend.

In addition, Apple iPhone applications were initially only offered to those who agreed to a two-year subscription with AT&T, and that included some offers that would not pay off for everyone. There was also wide media coverage of a 300-page bill, after which AT&T made a change in its billing practices.

The Apple iPhone was released internationally in France, the United Kingdom, Europe and Germany, towards the end of 2007. In Europe the Apple iPhone was only made available to the public through one preselected company and that seem to raise some legal concerns.