The first iPhone was released in the United States 14 years ago. Despite its flaws, Apple’s smartphone quickly established itself as the new benchmark in the market. Years later, the iPhone continues to unleash the crowds and boasts 1 billion active users worldwide.
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On June 29, 2007, Apple released the first iPhone in the US market. Offers starting at $ 499, the phone (also called iPhone 2G or iPhone EDGE) has caused a stir among technology enthusiasts. Still, the first iPhone of the name suffered from a handful of limitations. At the time, there was no App Store and the smartphone only worked on the network of the American operator AT&T.
For the record, Apple presented the original iPhone a few months before the release on the American market. The January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs took the stage to present a device that combined Internet access, mobile telephony and listening to music at the 2007 Macworld conference. On stage, the legendary Apple founder presented a prototype of iPhone barely functional.
Also read: iPhone 12 vs iPhone 1 – this unexpected speed test shows how much performance has improved since 2007
A look back at the launch of the iPhone 1
The first iPhone is the culmination ofa long research and development process the total cost of which is estimated at 150 million dollars. During this research phase, Steve Jobs and his teams imagined several different designs for the terminal, including the integration of a wheel similar to that of the iPod. For his part, Apple’s chief marketing officer was campaigning for the iPhone to look like a Blackberry with a physical keyboard. Steve Jobs, convinced of the future of the touch screen, did not give in.
The first iPhone shaped the entire mobile phone market, which was then dominated by phones with a physical keyboard. According to Chris DeSalvo, one of Android’s first software engineers, the iPhone’s presentation forced the Android development team to “start from scratch”.
A few months after its arrival on the American market, the iPhone made its debut in France on November 27, 2007. In France, the smartphone has generated contrasting reactions. Many media have greeted the device with skepticism. “Revolutionary in terms of touchscreen, navigation and design, it is still technically limited for mobile phone purists” particularly estimated Liberation.
In 2007, Apple sold 1.9 million iPhones worldwide. Since the launch of the first generation, the group has sold more than 1.7 billion phones. The iPhone currently has 1 billion active users worldwide, up from 20 to 30 million each year.
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