We’re all aware of how popular Apple’s iPhone has become since it was launched in 2007. But did you know that over the past three years, it’s one of only two devices to maintain a spot in the top 20 mobile phones list produced by Millennial Media? Not only has it stayed firmly in the top 20 for three years running, but it has also stayed firmly in at number one.
Millennial Media is a mobile advertising company that began operating five years ago. On Friday it produced its 50th Mobile Mix “intelligence report,” which features a list of the top mobile phones ranked by impressions. Out of the 20 devices listed, surprisingly, only two have maintained a place for more than 12 months, and that’s Apple’s iPhone and RIM’s BlackBerry Curve.
The chart above shows the top 20 smartphones during 2009, and the top 20 during 2011. You’ll notice that the iPhone dominates the top spot throughout, whereas RIM’s device has climbed up from third to sit in second place. What’s most interesting is that out of the other 18 devices features in 2009, not one of them is in the top 20 in 2011.
To put that into perspective, there have been just two iPhones — the iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 — since that 2009 list was produced, but there have been countless other smartphones from a host of other manufacturers that just can’t seem to maintain their popularity quite as well.
Will today’s most popular Android devices still be of any worth in 2013? I bet the iPhone will.
[via Fortune]
Killian Bell is a freelance writer based in the U.K. He has an interest in all things tech and also covers Android over at CultofAndroid.com. You can follow him on Twitter via @killianbell.
34 responses to “Five Years Later, The Only Smartphone From 2007 Anyone Still Uses Is The iPhone”
Are you stupid? Thats just like saying it’s a HTC that people are using! The iPhone has had 4 generations. It’s not the same phone…
My time machine *did* work! I was under the impression that 2007 was four years ago, not five.
totally stupid article. see if the 1st ten is still #1, then you’ll have a story
True, but if HTC’s 6 phones were counted as one, they still wouldn’t be up there.
It’s just like some car manufacturers bragging about how many of their older cars are still on the road. It does make a difference. Old iPhones never die, they just get resold, passed on to friends and family, or converted to use as an iPod Touch.
It’s a bit of a false metric. It’s not the *same* iPhone in 2011 as in 2007, and if you take into account that a Samsung product with a different name in 2011 is essentially “that year’s” version of the 2007 product, it’s almost the same thing.
Maybe.. What is today’s black jack?
Huh? You have to ad #s 2 to 20 together to reach the iPhone.
I agree, but unfortunately, these data don’t show how many of the iPhones being used in 2011 are Gen 1 models. _That_ would be an interesting stat and better support what I thought this article would be about.
I agree.
The problem with Android phones is that as soon as a company releases a new one, it stops updating the old ones. True, the first few iPhones don’t get updated anymore, but how many of the Android phones actually get the updated version of Android after it gets released? Not many. The original iPhone made it through 2 main upgrades. Apple had found a phone model and stuck with it (iPhone), where HTC for example has so many different phones instead of just trying to improve on the one they had before. It further helps that Apple is in charge of updating all of their phones and can make the operating system work from the ground up for their phone, whereas a lot of other companies are required to make their phones work for the operating system.
Wait a minute… do you consider the very first iPhone the same device as the iPhone 4?
I think it just keeps the same name and it is loyal to its initial philosophy, but over the past 4 years it has been overhauled so much that it’s unfair to say what you’re saying. I’m sure there are people still using the 1st generation iPhone, but… really?
In all fairness, the only thing we can say for sure is that “Apple’s iPhones” have been leading the charts for top 20 most popular mobile phones since… but it is by no means the same device.
Saying “Apple’s iPhone” is like saying “RIM’s Blackberry”. They are both product lines, families, evolving products, but they are not the same device over the years.
Your choice for a title is woefully misleading.
Wow. Serious lack of intelligence in this ‘intelligence report’ by Millennial Media.
And lazy reporting by Fortune and Cult of Mac.
Agree, too !
I thought, that that was the point!
Yeah. What everyone else said.
Stupidity at its finest. Exactly what I come here to read. iDiots
I realize this is an Apple centric blog, heck its the reason I visit it, but this is one of the poorest pieces of “journalism” I’ve seen in a while. Apple could easily have changed the name of their phone after every model and then would you be making the same claim? if the phone was now the xPhone would you still, with a straight face, make the same argument without pointing out the obvious difference between name and actual product?
Yes the iPhone has been a huge success, even with far less frequent updates than its competitors. Yes, its likely that a large percentage of original generation iPhones are still in use, but none of these statistics bear that out. Next time try and be accurate in your reporting, blog or not. Its fine to point out the iPhones success, but poorly written pieces like this undercut that success rather than support it.