I hear this all the time and I just don't get it. Apple did not invent the smartphone. I used a smartphone for three years before the iPhone came out. And another one even before that.

Apple did not even improve the smartphone. Both mine were far superior to anything available even today in some respects. If anything, the iPhone was a step back, not forward.

iPhone did not win because it was the first. Or better. It won because it was Apple. They can make a pocket sundial trendy if they put their mind to it, FFS!