This week I told you what is the number of active iDevices at the global level at the moment, this being calculated based on figures provided by the Apple company in the conference to present the financial results for Q4 2017. Apple stated that it has 1.3 billion monthly active iDevices globally, but also stated that until now it has sold almost 2.05 billion iDevices in the 10 years of their existence on the market.
Based on this information, and a not very simple calculation, a Romanian analyst concluded that the average lifespan of an Apple product is 4 years and 3 months, quite long in the case of a phone, a tablet, or an iPod Touch. Of the 2.05 billion iDevices sold globally, 750 million have been disabled so far, an impressive number, but one that covers 10 years of sales made by Apple.
"Arithmetically, the average lifespan at a given time t is the duration between tand the moment when the cumulative devices sold reached the cumulative retired devices at time t."
Here is the average lifespan of an Apple product
Even if for some it could be a question of a life period that is too short for a 1000 euro phone, for example, the fact that we are still not talking about a television must be taken into account. We are talking about electronic products that are very close to the category of consumables, most people changing their phones once every 2 years, although the trend is moving slowly, slowly, towards a period of three years.
"For example today–as the visual below represents–the lifespan is the time since cumulative devices sold reached the current total retired devices. The cumulative retired devices can be calculated as 2.05 billion cumulative balance minus 1.3 billion assets or 750 million. The time when cumulative devices sold reached 750 million was the third quarter 2013. The lifespan is thus estimated at the time between now and Q3 2013 or 17 quarters or about 4 years and three months."
Apple will never admit the average lifespan of its products, but in 2018 it revealed for the second time in its history the number of active iDevices globally and the first time they were sold in total. To be completely honest, it is very possible that Apple will decide at some point not to reveal such information, but until then we can enjoy what we already know about the Cupertino iDevices.
