Submitted by: Submitted by sujon
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Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 12/03/2010 07:19 AM
History and availability
Worldwide iPhone sales by quarter. Sales volume is in millions. Q1 is the holiday season. Original iPhone iPhone 3G iPhone 3G and 3Gs (Apple does not differentiate)
Worldwide iPhone availability: Original iPhone was available; now iPhone 4 iPhone 3GS and 4 Coming soon
Main article: History of the iPhone
See also: List of iOS devices
Development of the iPhone began with Apple CEO Steve Jobs' direction that Apple engineers investigate touchscreens.[3] Apple created the device during a secretive and unprecedented collaboration with AT&T Mobility—Cingular Wireless at the time—at an estimated development cost of US$150 million over thirty months.[4] Apple rejected the "design by committee" approach that had yielded the Motorola ROKR E1, a largely unsuccessful collaboration with Motorola. Instead, Cingular gave Apple the liberty to develop the iPhone's hardware and software in-house.[5][6]
Jobs unveiled the iPhone to the public on January 9, 2007 at Macworld 2007. Apple was required to file for operating permits with the FCC, but since such filings are made available to the public, the announcement came months before the iPhone had received approval. The iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007, at 6:00 pm local time, while hundreds of customers lined up outside the stores nationwide.[7] The original iPhone was made available in the UK, France, and Germany in November 2007, and Ireland and Austria in the spring of 2008.
On July 11, 2008, Apple released the iPhone 3G in twenty-two countries, including the original six.[8] Apple released the iPhone 3G in upwards of eighty countries and territories.[9] Apple announced the iPhone 3GS on June 8, 2009, along with plans to release it later in June, July, and August, starting with the U.S., Canada and major European countries on June 19. Many would-be users objected to the iPhone's cost,[10] and 40% of users have household incomes over US$100,000.[11]...