Since the first iPod, Apple’s been on a roll getting consumers hooked onto their products. The latest was the release of iPad 2 last Wednesday. No doubt this will be lapped up by Apple’s eager legions! A square foot of an Apple store generates $5,980 in annual revenue, that’s how profitable they are! Investors love Apple, consumers love Apple! Apple’s in a very envious position!

So I thought I’ll try out a different experiment. What if, instead of buying Apple products, one invested the equivalent price in Apple shares? Apple’s growth since the first iPod launch has been phenomenal! For the experiment, I chose the closing share price as of the launch date of the product without considering taxes for the purchase or commissions for the trade. For iPhone I’m using the price as bought with a contract.

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If you had bought Apple shares instead of the original iPod when it was released in October of 2001, you would be sitting on a return on investment of $16,073.78 on your original $399! That’s a return of 3928.52%.



In August of 2004, Apple released the gorgeous all-in-one iMac G5 for $1299. Instead, had you invested this amount on Apple shares, your shares would be worth $27,013.41 today! A return of 1979.56%!



The Mac Mini, the first ‘affordable’ Mac, retailed for $499 when it was introduced in 2005. You could’ve made $5,544.93 or 1011.21% return on your investment!



Apple’s great switcheroo! Apple decided to ditch it’s anti-Intel stance and embrace it instead in 2006 with the all new Intel iMac!. The price? $1299. Your returns today? $5,762.44! A return of 343.61%!



Apple shook the smart phone world with the introduction of the iPhone in June 2007. You could get an iPhone with 2 year contract for $399. But the same invested in Apple shares (not counting monthly fees) would’ve netted you $1,172.18 or a gain of 193.78%!



The iPhone with a speed bump – Apple introduced the iPhone 3G for $99 in July 2008. 107.76% or $205.67 gain, had you purchased Apple shares on that day!



The MacBook Unibody! In the beginning of 2009, Apple introduced the Unibody Macbook for $2799 for the 17″ version. The same amount in equivalent Apple shares would’ve netted you $10,797.30 or a gain of 285.76%!



2010 Was the year of the iPad! The tablet that revolutionized the struggling tablet market! Apple priced it competitively at $499. Your investment would’ve been worth $750 or 50.46% today!



Last Tuesday, Steve Jobs introduced the iPad 2 for the same price!

What do you think this would be worth in 5 years if you decide to buy Apple shares today?