There are several companies in the economy which may not have existed without the help of the smartphone and, in particular, the iPhone, which celebrated its 10th birthday Monday.

The iPhone, together with improvements in chip technology, helped modernize the smartphone and bring it into the consumer mainstream. This allowed industries focused on apps, podcasts and other smartphone features to flourish.

“Lifesum simply would not exist without the iPhone, and it is hard to imagine the consumer health-tech industry being where it is today without the Apple device’s revolutionary aspects,” Henrik Torstensson, CEO of health and fitness app, Lifesum, told CNBC via email.
There were estimated to be around 2.93 million apps on the Apple App Store by the end of 2016 ACCORDING TO WHO?. The Google Play Store, which provides apps for Android devices, is similarly populated and both store places have become homes for companies to develop new forms of business and create money-making apps.

“The iPhone launch ignited a smartphone race which deposited intelligent devices into the bags and pockets of hundreds of millions of consumers,” says Torstensson.

Meanwhile, podcasting has grown into a mainstream form of entertainment. Even though the technology dates back to the 1980s, podcasting (which gets its name from the Apple iPod) became established in the mid-2000s. Now, an estimated 57 million Americans regularly listen to podcasts.

Karl Rosander, founder and president of podcasting platform Acast, details how Apple’s devices have helped develop this nascent industry.

“Apple products and podcasting are intrinsically linked. The advent of the iPod in 2001 launched podcasts as we know them today, but the arrival of the iPhone liberated the format and completely removed the long-winded route of downloading and transferring from desktop to device,” he told CNBC via email.

“Acast’s business model only really works with a mobile platform. The iPhone laid down the original technology for this industry, and now 10 years later, it’s amazing to see what it’s become. Today’s listeners are constantly plugged in to their smartphones accessing everything on-demand.”

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