The combined population of China and India is less than the number of iPhones sold!

Apple recently held its third-quarter earnings conference call, with the highlight being the sale of its 3 billionth iPhone. It took Apple 18 years to reach this milestone since the iPhone was launched in 2007.

During the earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Kevan Parekh shared details about device sales, revealing that last year's iPhone 16 models were popular among customers upgrading to newer iPhones. The CEO said that iPhone 16‌ sales were up "double digits" compared to iPhone 15 sales.

It seems that Apple's aggressive efforts to upgrade the iPhone 16 with Apple Intelligence have paid off. This comes despite the criticism that the Cupertino giant has faced for not advertising its Apple Intelligence features properly, when these features do not appear or do not meet users' expectations.

Apple's senior vice president of marketing, Greg Joswiak, was also excited, sharing a post on X to celebrate the milestone.

A billion is a big number, and it took Apple just four years to reach 3 billion iPhone sales. That's five years faster than going from 1 billion to 2 billion. But it seems like 4 billion could take even longer, especially since the tech landscape is likely to shift in a different direction in the coming years.

Mark Zuckerberg recently said that AI glasses are the new trend in the future, and those who don't have them will be at a disadvantage. CNBC also interviewed Tim Cook about whether AI devices, like the ones being developed by Jony Ive and Sam Altman, could replace the iPhone. And the CEO responded confidently that such devices would complement the iPhone, not replace it.

David Pac

Update 05 August 2025