Apple CEO Tim Cook on Monday announced that the company has sold more than 700 million iPhones since launch, just months after Apple announced the sale of its 1 billionth iOS device.
The blockbuster launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus contributed to that total, with Tim Cook saying combined iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales growth reached 49 percent. That number is nearly double overall industry growth, which was up just 26 percent year-over-year.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the first iPhones that were shipped with a larger form factor. Apple has mostly steered away from launching “over sized” phablet phones but the recent success from other vendors has led Apple to think that there is a market for that. Apple has been very careful not to cannibalize it’s iPad product line as well. But news of a blowout sales seem to be working in Apple’s favor. Many Apple fans have been pushing for a larger phone for several months now.
Apple sold nearly 75 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units in the fourth quarter of 2014. That works out to over 34,000 iPhones every hours, 24 hours a day, every day of the quarter.
The company is widely expected to announce similarly impressive — though not quite as robust — sales for the current quarter, which includes the Lunar New Year holiday, a major catalyst for shopping in China. Even with the recent blowout sales numbers, Apple still remains behind leading smart phone manufacturer Samsung in terms of the volume of shipment. Samsung is one of the first Android manufacturer to release a huge phone in it’s Note series of phones and has seen tremendous success over that product line.
Cook also touted the iPhone’s record-breaking customer satisfaction ratings, which have long led the industry. 99 percent of consumers reported being satisfied with their iPhones.
