Here are some numbers from a recent speech given by Tim Cook.

 

It Apple 22 years to sell 55 million Macs
It took them 5 Years to sell 55 million iPods
It took them 3 Years to sell 55 million iPhones
It took less than 1 3/4 Years to sell 55 million iPads!

Isn’t it amazing that 10 years ago Apple was struggling to survive?  I remember buying Apple stock at $22 (which would be $11 split adjusted) because I really liked the first iPod.  Later that year I got stopped out of it when it dove below $20 during the tech meltdown.  At that time people were convinced that Apple was dead money (similar to Microsoft in recent years).  Sure people thought the iPod was a nice gadget but no one saw the incredible opportunity that was about to unfold before our eyes.

Looking at the overnight success of the iPad it’s easy to see in hindsight why this type of success is now possible.  Today consumer sentiment is exactly opposite of what it was 10 years ago and Apple is widely regarded as the most successful tech company in the world.  Consumers assume that each new product released will be more amazing than the last.

iTunes has created a steady stream of small, recurring sales for Apple and now with multiple devices (iPod, iPhone & iPad) all buying music and apps it seems that Apple is untouchable.  The only question I have going forward is how others will be able to compete?  The only two companies right now that are in a position to compete with Apple are Google and Amazon.  Each of those companies are also positioning themselves to have a steady stream of consumer payments (via Android and Kindle) and both are going full steam into cloud services.

All I can say is I sure wish I still had 200 shares of Apple stock, today it would be worth $102,000!  Not bad considering it only cost $2200 to buy a decade ago……  hmmm.

See the latest iPads: