Apple has accumulated over $150 billion in revenue since its massively popular and record-breaking iPhone handset launched five years ago. After the tech giant – under the successful management of the late Steve Jobs – introduced the iPhone to the public, the iOS-based smartphone sold more than 250 million units worldwide. Research firm Strategy Analytics, however, believes that the next five years will not be simple and as lucrative as it was for Apple.

Neil Mawtson, executive director of Strategy Analytics, remarked that Apple currently is at the “top of its game” while talking about the company’s astounding numbers for sales and revenue.  Even so, “There are emerging signs that the iPhone’s next five years could get tougher,” he added.

“Some mobile operators are becoming concerned about the high level of subsidies they spend on the iPhone, while Samsung is expanding its popular Galaxy portfolio and providing Apple with more credible competition,” Mawston asserted.

Original iPhone + iPhone 3G + iPhone 4 (Image: Yutaka Tsutano, via Flickr / CC)

Neil Shah, an analyst of Strategy Analytics, disclosed the sales figures to celebrate and mark the iPhone’s fifth year in the smartphone industry, saying, “Between June 2007 and June 2012, we estimate the iPhone family of models has generated US$150 billion of cumulative revenues worldwide for Apple.”

“This is an impressive achievement and it illustrates just how popular the iPhone has become during the past five years,” he added.

“A quarter of a billion iPhones have been shipped cumulatively worldwide in the first five years since launch,” Mawtson continued. “Apple reaches its fifth birthday at the top of its game.”

The full report from Strategy Analytics is available here.

About Francis Rey Balolong

A coffee junkie who spends most of his time writing about the latest news on social media and mobile technology. I would definitely consider myself a nerd (in the coolest most hipster way possible). That being said, I love technology, music, writing, and all things mobile. Follow me: Google+ Twitter

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