by 
Updated on December 10, 2021
Since its 2007 debut, the iPhone has greatly changed the smartphone and mobile device landscape. Besides the huge change in the world at large over the last nine years, the iPhone’s also greatly changed Apple.
Starting in 2012, the iPhone has become the majority of Apple’s annual revenue. In 2015, the iPhone alone brought in a whopping 66% of Apple’s $235 billion in revenue, or $155 billion. That’s two-thirds of the company’s income! Not to mention vastly dwarfing everything else Apple makes: iPads, MacBooks, Apple Music, Apple TV, etc.
Below is an infographic listing how Apple’s income has changed since the iPhone’s debut.
I knew the iPhone was extremely popular for Apple. However, relying on it for two-thirds of the company’s income sounds a bit “eggs in one basket”-like. That and nervous Wall Street types might explain Apple’s aggressive push into different areas, such as Apple Music. Thanks to the new headphone-less iPhone 7, Apple will probably see a big spike in sales for its wireless Beats headphones.
Looking back, that $27.9 billion revenue figure from 2007 would’ve included Apple’s then-wildly-successful iPods. It’d also include Apple’s music sales through iTunes, back in the pre-Spotify days.
Statista’s infographic also notes that the cost of actually making iPhones is much less than what they actually sell for. No surprise, I suppose.
As a comparison, major electronics/smartphone rival Samsung earned $165.9 billion in total revenue in 2015. Slashgear notes that Samsung’s revenue has been a bit weak recently. And of course, this was all before this year’s disastrous Galaxy Note 7 release. I assume Samsung’s revenue for this year won’t be as impressive. I couldn’t find how much Samsung made just from its phones, however.
