The fifth anniversary of the iPhone is coming up this week and what a five years it has been.
Apple has shipped 250 million iPhones worldwide since the product launched back in 2007, according to new data from Strategy Analytics, a global research firm.
While the first five years have been good for the iPhone, Strategy Analytics suggests the next five could prove to be more challenging as carriers rethink the cost of subsidizing the phone and Apple faces greater competition from companies like Samsung.
That said, there's still plenty of opportunity for growth. Apple is looking to expand into new markets abroad, perhaps most notably by partnering with China Mobile, a wireless carrier with more than 650 million subscribers. And Apple is expanding into new markets at home by finally making the iPhone available on the prepaid market.
