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THE INVESTOR
|
15
25TH ANNIVERSARY
S
teve Jobs, chief executive officer and
co-founder of Apple, announced that the
company had produced the first-generation
iPhone, although it did not go on sale
until June of that year.He described it as
‘a widescreen iPodwith touch controls... a
revolutionarymobile phone... [and] a breakthrough
internet communications device’, and it has lived up
to that promise.Although none of its key features
were new – other devices had already used touch
screens and apps –Apple’s success was inmaking these
functions user-friendly; having a platformonwhich
anyone could launch apps, having regular updates, and
launching new features and capabilities. In addition, a
supreme marketingmachine generated such interest
that queues formed outside its stores across the world
when new versions were launched. Since that first
iPhone launched, numerous newmodels have been
released, the latest being the iPhone 7,with innovations
including clearer and larger screens.Although its
market share has never been dominant – the highest
was less than 24% in 2012
2
– its record of innovation
means it has been the brand that other phone
manufacturers have been forced to emulate.
St.James’s Place Wealth Management
trading style adopted
1992–2017