The iPhone made its public debut in 2007, when Apple Inc AAPL Co-Founder Steve Jobs Introduced a revolutionary device to the world. Before it became a huge success for Apple and one of the best-selling phones worldwide, many – including one major competitor – were skeptical about how well the iPhone would sell.
what happened: The iPhone made its debut on January 9, 2007, during Jobs’ Macworld keynote address. The phone would go on sale later that year and would become one of the biggest revenue drivers for Apple and a big part of the company’s later success.
During the keynote, Jobs said that “every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” Apple’s CEO said at the time that the iPhone combines three products: a mobile phone, a widescreen iPod, and Internet communication.
“The iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is five years ahead of any other mobile phone. We’re all born with the ultimate pointing device — our fingers — and iPhone uses it to create the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse.”
He was one of the many people who reacted strongly to the unveiling of the iPhone Steve Ballmerwho was the CEO of a competitor at the time Microsoft Corporation MSFT.
During an interview with CNBC, Ballmer was asked about his reaction to the unveiling of the iPhone.
“Five hundred dollars! Fully subsidized with the plan! I said it’s the most expensive phone in the world and it doesn’t appeal to business people because it doesn’t have a keyboard,” Ballmer famously said.
Ballmer said the iPhone could sell well but told CNBC he liked Microsoft’s chances in the smartphone market.
“We have a strategy. I like our strategy. I like it a lot,” he said.
Ballmer went on to say that Microsoft was selling “millions and millions and millions of phones a year” and that Apple was selling zero at the time, adding that it was premature to call the iPhone a success.
“Six months, they’ll have the most expensive phone ever on the market, too, and … let’s see how the competition plays out.”
Microsoft will later exit the smartphone business in 2016.
While Ballmer wasn’t the only competitor to poke fun at the iPhone, his comments remain among the most famous comments made about a competitor over the years.
In a later interview, Ballmer admitted he was wrong and said he wished he had thought of some of the ideas himself.
“I wish I had thought of a model for operators to subsidize phones,” Ballmer said.
Related Link: 5 Game-Changing iPhone Hacks Recommended by YouTuber MrWhoseTheBoss in this viral video
Investing $1,000 in Apple stock: The unveiling of the iPhone was a big event — and Ballmer’s comments may have caused some investors to doubt the company’s product because of its price. Others, however, could recognize that Apple was onto something.
An investor could buy 303.95 shares of Apple on January 17, 2007, based on the split-adjusted price of $3.29 on the day of Ballmer’s original interview.
That $1,000 investment would be worth $50,157.83 today, based on an Apple share price of $165.02 at the time of writing. This represents a return of 4,9515.7% over the last 16 years.
An investor who believed more strongly in Microsoft’s future, however, would have made less today. A $1,000 investment in Microsoft stock on the day of Ballmer’s interview would be worth $9,090.03 today, up 809% over the past 16 years.
Although Apple has beaten Microsoft by a significant margin in terms of stock returns over the past 16 years, both stocks have significantly outperformed the S&P 500, as tracked by the S&P 500 ETF Trust.
An investor who bought $1,000 in SPY stock when Ballmer made the comments would have $2,873.03 today, an increase of 187.3%.
Read next: If you invested $1,000 in Microsoft stock when Bill Gates explained the Internet to David Letterman, here’s how much you’d have today
Photo: Shutterstock
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