The Apple iPhone Blog

Apple has a long standing reputation for always coming out with modern products that are geared to cater to the masses. Already before the release of Apple iPhone in June 2007, guesses had been made widely about the outlook, the specifications and about the general properties of the product. No wonder, as the Apple iPhone seems to be an innovative and a novel product, combining the technology of iPods, a revolutionary mobile phone and a handy internet device, some assert it to be three separate products all in one.

The iPhone Beginning

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. However, in April 2003, he declared in a conference that the development of traditional PDAs or tablet PCs was not the way ahead for Apple.

Advanced technologies and the possibilities through improving upon the cell phone was to be the new focus and direction for Apple. The appearance of the new Apple iPhone was announced in January, 2007 at the MacWorld Expo with a release date for June 2007. During another conference later that same year, the Apple iPhone was announced that it would be able to connect with third parties creating Web 2.0 applications which users could use for internet access.

Made Public and More Developments

Apple iPhone eventually went on sale June 29, 2007 in the United States, and hundreds of people reportedly lined up in front of the shops to be able to grab the new Apple iPhone as soon as possible. When it was first released there were two types to choose from: one with a flash drive of 4GB for $499 and the other with 8GB for $599 however, the sales for the 8GB exceeded the other version so much that they suspended all manufacturing of 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.

Moreover, the applications of Apple iPhone’s were originally only available to those who made 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. However, in Europe, Apple seemed to face legal difficulties because the iPhone was only offered through one selected company.