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iPhone Launch
Category: Science & Technology Key figures: Steve Jobs (Apple CEO); Tony Fadell (VP iPod); Scott Forstall (VP iPhone Software); Jony Ive (SVP Industrial Design)
Summary
On January 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the original iPhone at the Macworld Conference & Expo in San Francisco’s Moscone West convention center. Jobs described the device as a combination of “a widescreen iPod with touch controls,” “a revolutionary mobile phone,” and “a breakthrough Internet communicator,” and declared that Apple was “five years ahead of any other mobile phone.” The announcement was made without physical distribution to press or developers, and the device was not available for purchase until June 29, 2007.
The first iPhone went on sale in the United States on June 29, 2007, at 6:00 p.m. local time, with Apple stores closing at 2:00 p.m. to prepare for the launch. Thousands of customers had lined up at Apple retail stores and AT&T outlets nationwide. The device was offered in two configurations: a 4 GB model at $499 and an 8 GB model at $599, both requiring a two-year contract with AT&T (then Cingular Wireless), the exclusive U.S. carrier.
The iPhone’s hardware represented a significant industrial design departure: it eliminated nearly all physical hardware buttons in favor of a 3.5-inch multi-touch LCD touchscreen (480×320 pixels), used a glass screen (substituted for plastic six weeks before launch), and ran a version of Apple’s OS X operating system. It included a 2-megapixel rear camera, Safari web browser, Google Maps integration, and visual voicemail. It did not initially support third-party native applications; Apple encouraged web-based apps instead, before launching the App Store in July 2008.
Apple sold 270,000 iPhones in the first week, reaching 1 million units within 74 days and approximately 1.4 million by November 2007. In September 2007, Apple reduced the 8 GB model’s price to $399 amid criticism that early adopters had overpaid. The original iPhone was discontinued on July 11, 2008, when the iPhone 3G was released, with approximately 6.1 million total units sold.
Significance
The original iPhone fundamentally reshaped the smartphone industry and mobile computing. By integrating phone, internet, and media playback into a single device with a finger-friendly touchscreen interface — without a stylus or physical keyboard — it established a design paradigm that competitors rapidly adopted, rendering existing smartphone platforms (particularly Nokia’s Symbian and Palm OS) obsolete within a few years. Time magazine named the iPhone its “Invention of the Year” for 2007.
The launch also accelerated Apple’s transformation from a computer company into a consumer electronics and services giant: Apple’s stock (AAPL) rose sharply following the announcement, and by Q4 2007 Apple had become the second-largest U.S. smartphone vendor. The July 2008 App Store launch — enabled by the iPhone’s platform — created an entirely new software distribution ecosystem and spawned a multibillion-dollar mobile application economy. By 2012, more than 200 million iPhones had been sold globally, and the iPhone line became Apple’s single largest revenue source. The iPhone’s influence extended to Android, Google’s competing mobile OS first released in 2008, which adopted a similar touchscreen-centric approach.
Related
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Another major cultural and commercial milestone of 2007.
- Virginia Tech Shooting — Defining event of the same year.
- Al Gore and IPCC Nobel Peace Prize — Major 2007 development with lasting global impact.