Although prices have fallen considerably, large variations in price still exist within regions and countries.

Within weeks, Listpic had fallen from its perch as one of the top 15,000 sites on the Web —the height of its popularity —to somewhere below 100,000th place, where it languishes still.

And Mr Jobs emphasised that anyone who had fallen out of love with the phone could still return it for a full refund within 30 days of purchase.