The most popular product of all time

Asymco ^ | July 29, 2016 | Horace Dediu

[Swordmaker]

The following is a list of the best-selling products across several categories:

Car model: VW Beetle 21.5 million
Car brand: Toyota Corolla 43 million
Music Album: Thriller 70 million
Vehicle: Honda Super Cub 87 million
Book Title: Lord of the Rings 150 million
Toy: Rubik’s Cube 350 million
Game console: Playstation 382 million
Book series: Harry Potter Series 450 million
Mobile Phone: iPhone 1 billion

The iPhone is not only the best selling mobile phone but also the best selling music player, the best selling camera, the best selling video screen and the best selling computer of all time.

It is, quite simply, the best selling product of all time.

It is that because it is so much more than a product. It is an enabler for change. It unleashed forces which we are barely able to perceive, let alone control. It changed the world because it changed us.

And it did all that in less than nine years. One has to wonder what it will enable in the next nine.

[Swordmaker]

Well, maybe the MacDonald's Hamburger would really be the best selling product of all time. . . but that's a consumable.

[cba123]

Made in China.

[PROCON]

Slice bacon by a mile.

[workerbee]

Charmin, anyone?

[Swordmaker]

The Apple iPhone, after nine years on the market and having hit the one billion sales mark, is the best selling product of all time, according to Horace Dediu at Asymco. — PING!

Apple iPhone,
The Best Selling Product of All Time?
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Porn has had some good sales for years.

[kosciusko51]

Planned obsolescence... How many of the original iPhones are still in use?

BTW, I would hazard a guess that the Bible has sold more than a billion copies.

[Swordmaker]

Slice bacon and Charmin. . .

Both consumables. Not in the same category.

[Swordmaker]

BTW, I would hazard a guess that the Bible has sold more than a billion copies.

Not by the same publisher, I'd wager.

[PROCON]

“Don’t squeeze the Charmin!”

[KarlInOhio]

Oh, thank the government for creating the iPhone and allowing us to buy it.

Pelosi Claims Government Created the iPhone, Not Steve Jobs or Apple

[right way right]

You must work for Apple?
Not that there is anything wrong with that.

[Buttons12]

First thing that came to mind is the Band-Aid. Then aspirin. Then light bulbs.

[Shadowstrike]

had a toyota corolla hatchback, one of the best cars I ever had. loads of room when you put down the back seats and didn’t break your back getting stuff out...

I miss that car.

[kosciusko51]

That was not specified in the post.

[roadcat]

Planned obsolescence... How many of the original iPhones are still in use?

Not really, just the march of technology making improvements over time. Of your TVs in your home, how many are tube models? Was it planned obsolescence when the tube TV became obsolete when transistors came along? Projection TVs? Plasma TVs? How many non-computerized automobiles are still in use? As a percentage, not many (I still have two). My daughters swear by their iPhones, and have upgraded through several versions. One fell out of a car, got run over, and was still used for a year even though it was bent and had a shattered screen - my daughter finally upgraded. It getting run over was not planned!

[golux]

Deadly Poison: Communism. 100 Million sold.

[dfwgator]

American Defense!

[golux]

Convenience: Abortion. 60 Million sold in US alone.

[Shanghai Dan]

The data suggests otherwise.

The Nokia 1100 and 1110 phones sold over 250 million for each model. Way beyond any two Apple models combined. You have to take the top 4 Apple phone models to finally eclipse what the 1100 OR the 1110 did on their own.

Now, sure, you can bundle all the iPhones together to get a big number, but when you do that for things like the Nokia bar phones - you swamp the iPhone.

Apples to apples, so to speak!