April 9, 2007: Apple sells its 100 millionth iPod. Coming five-and-a-half years after the transportable music participant went on sale, the landmark occasion confirms the iPod as Apple’s hottest product of all time.
Till the iPhone arrives a pair months later, that’s!
iPod turns into Apple’s largest product
Launched in 2001, the original iPod famously put “1,000 songs in your pocket” on a 5GB exhausting drive. The gadget capitalized on the rise of digital audio recordsdata to exchange bodily recordings like CDs and vinyl. It additionally performed into Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ digital hub strategy, which positioned the Mac on the heart of shoppers’ lives, and laid the groundwork for the iPhone.
Over the following 20 years, the iPod would have an enormous impact on Apple’s fortunes and the culture at large. By April 2007, Apple had launched greater than 10 iPod fashions: 5 unique iPods, two variations of the iPod mini, two iPod nanos and two iPod shuffles.
The units spawned an unlimited ecosystem of greater than 4,000 equipment, from circumstances to standalone audio system. Plus, upward of 70% of automobiles produced in the USA in 2007 supplied iPod connectivity.
iPod and iTunes drive Apple’s success
Together with the success of the iTunes Music Store — the third-biggest music retailer in the USA on the time — the iPod represented Apple’s ascendancy to the head of the tech world.
It was an incredible turnaround for an organization that just about went out of enterprise only a decade earlier.
“At this historic milestone, we wish to thank music lovers all over the place for making iPod such an incredible success,” stated Jobs in a press release issued by Apple. “iPod has helped tens of millions of individuals all over the world rekindle their ardour for music, and we’re thrilled to be part of that.”
Celebrities pay homage to the iPod
To mark the 100 million iPod gross sales milestone, Apple enlisted celebs from the music and sports activities worlds.
“It’s exhausting to recollect what I did earlier than the iPod,” stated singer Mary J. Blige in the identical press launch. The iPod is “greater than only a music participant,” she stated, “it’s an extension of your character and a good way to take your favourite music with you all over the place you go.”
Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion, additionally sang the iPod’s praises.
“I take my trainers and my iPod with me all over the place,” stated the bicyclist. “I hearken to music after I run. Having my music with me is basically motivating.”
Apple additionally took out an commercial in The Wall Road Journal celebrating the sale of the 100 millionth iPod.
Photograph: Apple
100 million iPods was simply the beginning, however all good issues should come to an finish
However this was simply the beginning. By 2011, Apple offered a large 300 million iPods. Whereas the corporate ultimately stopped reporting iPod gross sales, the present tally in all probability stands at greater than 400 million. The iPhone, in the meantime, passed the 1 billionth unit sold in summer 2016 and simply saved going.
In 2022, Apple lastly discontinued the iPod touch, the final remaining mannequin of the music participant.
“Since its introduction over 20 years in the past, iPod has captivated customers all around the world who love the flexibility to take their music with them on the go,” Apple stated in a press launch — entitled “The music lives on” — on Might 10, 2022. “At the moment, the expertise of taking one’s music library out into the world has been built-in throughout Apple’s product line — from iPhone and Apple Watch to iPad and Mac — together with entry to greater than 90 million songs and over 30,000 playlists obtainable by way of Apple Music.”
And with that, Apple pulled the plug on the mighty iPod and marked the top of an period.
What number of iPods did you personal again within the day? Tell us within the feedback beneath.
