Apple launched a cheaper iPhone and the App Store in the 2008 crash and pulled ahead

In the months after the 2008 financial crisis, Apple did the opposite of retrenching. In July 2008 it launched the iPhone 3G at a subsidized price of $199, roughly half the launch price of the original iPhone, and opened the App Store to third-party developers.

The App Store's effect was immediate: Apple said it reached 200 million app downloads in its first 102 days, with about 5,500 apps available at launch, giving the iPhone an ecosystem no rival could match.

The moves paid off during a downturn that froze consumer spending. In the quarter ended September 2008 Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones, up sharply year over year, and reported record Mac sales, passing BlackBerry-maker RIM for the first time in a single quarter.

By the middle of 2009 analysts ranked Apple third in the smartphone market, while Nokia and RIM saw their growth stall and Apple's iPhone volume rose faster than the overall market.

Apple sold 6.9 million iPhones in the quarter to September 2008, passed BlackBerry-maker RIM in the quarter, and became a top-three smartphone maker by mid-2009.

The $199 iPhone 3G made the smartphone reachable during a spending freeze.

The App Store created a software ecosystem that locked customers into the platform.

Apple pushed volume and ecosystem during the crash rather than cutting research and marketing.

Rivals Nokia and RIM stayed device-first and lost share as Apple shifted the model.

When a downturn squeezes consumers, a company can win by dropping its price and adding an ecosystem that pulls users in — making the seller recession-proof rather than recession-poised.

Apple's 2008 product bets set up a decade of dominance. iPhone volume and the app ecosystem compounded, making Apple the most valuable public company by the early 2010s, while Nokia's handset business faded and BlackBerry moved toward a software-focused refocus in 2013.