The Most Popular Product Of All Time

Apple announced Wednesday that it has sold more than one billion iPhones. To understand the magnitude of the milestone, Asymco's Horace Dediu has compiled a list of the best-selling products across several categories. From his post (link shared via email by reader JoshTops):Car model: VW Beetle 21.5 million; car brand: Toyota Corolla 43 million; music album: Thriller 70 million; vehicle: Honda Super Cub 87 million; book title: Lord of the Rings 150 million; toy: Rubik's Cube 350 million; game console: Playstation 382 million; book series: Harry Potter Series 450 million; mobile phone: iPhone 1 billion.
The iPhone is not only the best-selling mobile phone but also the best selling music player, the best-selling camera, the best-selling video screen and the best-selling computer of all time. It is, quite simply, the best-selling product of all time. It is that because it is so much more than a product. It is an enabler for change. It unleashed forces which we are barely able to perceive, let alone control. It changed the world because it changed us. And it did all that in less than nine years. Update: 07/28 20:07 GMT by M :Dediu just told me that the list doesn't include consumable non-durable products.

Comments

Give me a break.

[enigma32]

Sorry, Apple fanbois, the iPhone is not the best selling camera of all time.
It may be the best selling "device with a camera" of all time, but it is not a "camera".

Furthermore: bic pens? razors? pine tree-shaped air-fresheners ... I would wager a bet these all sold more.

It has sold very well, yes, but let's not blow our load over it.

Re:BS "most popualar"

[bev_tech_rob]

If they are counting all models of iPhone as one, they should count all Android phones as one too. In which case the iPhone is small fry - last year Android was estimated to have 1.4 billion active users.

All Android phones from different manufacturers? That's like saying if the most popular car is the Toyota Camry, then all American cars are more popular. Apple and oranges.

We found a fanboi....

Planed obsolescence!

[DrYak]

Yes, bitches!
Planned obsolescence works !

It is that because it is so much more than a product.

Yup, indeed. It's not a product, it's fashion. And like with all designer clothes, you need to perpetually throw the old ones away and buy new ones !

- Call me when a car maker start to require you to replace your car every 24months (replacing the whole car, I mean. Literally. Not over billing you for a simple software update over some proprietary extension to the ODB port that they charge metaphorically as expensive as a new car).
- Call me when you need to replace a music record record every few month... no... wait... Okay, the whole purpose of adding DRM to music and introducing a new format every once in a while is exactly for that. So I'll concede the point.
- Call me when you need to replace a book every few months... oh... yeah... right. The whole DRM on e-books and Amazon remotely wiping books. Ok, I'll concede that one too. ...well actually, on second thoughts, it seems to me that the whole industry is whatching carefully Apple, taking notes, and trying to apply planned obsolescence to their own field of work..