Who would have thought the iPhone would be a $150 billion goliath five years after its introduction, with more than 250 million handsets sold around the world?
Certainly not the competition, which in 2007 included heavyweights like Nokia, Research in Motion and the now defunct Palm. These smartphone rivals had six months to prepare for the iPhone after its debut at Macworld Expo, finally hitting retail stores on June 29 - five years ago today.
The competitors left standing are feeling the pain of their inaction today as Apple remarkably continues to sell three out of the five models, with a sixth generation handset likely on the way this fall.
Apple is also leaving no stone unturned, with the iPhone 4S and previous generation iPhone 4 finally available at prepaid carriers across the United States.
The second in what's sure to be a long list of pay-as-you-go carriers to land the iconic handset is Virgin Mobile, the Sprint subsidiary who rolls out the iPhone on Friday, perhaps not so coincidentally timed with the handset's fifth anniversary.
In addition to being available wherever Virgin Mobile products are sold -- which includes Target, RadioShack and Best Buy, among others -- the company has opened 10 of its own branded retail stores across Chicago today. If successful, Virgin plans to roll out the red carpet at retail nationwide in the months ahead.
"This month marks Virgin Mobile USA's tenth birthday," said Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group. "And what better way to thank our fans for ten years of loyalty than by giving them exactly what they want: the perfect plan for the perfect phone. That is the essence of 'A Higher Calling.'"
Virgin Mobile now offers the 16GB iPhone 4S for $649 or the 8GB iPhone 4 for $549, with three unlimited text and data plans ranging from $30 to $50 per month, depending on how many voice minutes are required.
Source : ign[dot]com
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