Have you ever bought something that was immediately outpaced by something better and less expensive? Or have you flipped through an old magazine or catalog and laughed at how expensive and slow computers were not long ago? Or were you unable to take advanced math classes in high school despite being an A student with a bright future because your family couldn’t afford some specialty calculator that is still over $100 for no discernible reason? (Well, that escalated quickly.) Anyway, now you can find out just how much money you would have made if you’d bought stock in the company instead of buying their products.
The website Invested Instead answers this question regarding several must-have gadgets over the years. We’ve gone through the site to offer you a summary.
The biggest profit would have come to those who invested in Tesla instead of buying the Tesla Model S in June of 2012. That $57,400 would be $344,434 now, an amazing annual growth of 51%.
People who bought Amazon or Apple stock also did well for themselves. You’d have made a 30% annual return if you bought Amazon instead of the Kindle 1. That $400 gadget in November of 2007 would be $4,223 in Amazon stock today.
As for Apple, you’d stand to make anywhere from 18% to 36% in annual returns depending on the gadget. The cheapest of the first iPads was $499 in 2010, worth $1,882 in stock today (22% APY). The cheapest of the first iPhones, at $499 in 2007, would be $3,678 now (24% APY). If you had bought stock in 2001 instead of getting the first iPod for $400, you’d now have $39,447, an impressive 36% annual return. And those who bought the PowerBook 100 for $2,300 back in 1991 could have made $158,243 (18% APY).
Other computers (and calculators) didn’t fare as well, although most of those stocks grew around 10% annually. The stock for IBM’s Thinkpad 300 and their first PC, the 5150, returned 10% and 9% annually. The Thinkpad 300 was $2,375 in 1992 (worth $26,217 now). The 5150 was $1,565 in 1981 (worth $36,590 now).
As for those expensive calculators, both Texas Instruments’ SR-50 and Hewlett-Packard’s HP-65 would earn you 10% annual stock returns. The SR-50 was $170 in 1974 (worth $10,781 now), and the HP-65 was $795 in 1974 (worth $39,665 now). And a graphing calculator is still too damn expensive, even though smartphones exist.
Two areas where you probably got your money’s worth were game consoles and most music players besides the iPod. Most of those returned only 1% to 7% annually.
As far as music players go, Sony‘s first Walkman, the TPS-L2, cost $150 in 1979 and is worth $1,535 now, which seems like a lot but is only a 6% return. Sony’s portable CD player, the Discman D-50, was $203 in 1984, worth $1,164 now (6% APY). And Microsoft’s Zune 30 mp3 player was $250 in 2006, worth $659 now (10% APY).
As far as gaming consoles go, Sony’s PlayStation didn’t even keep pace with inflation; it cost $300 in 1994, worth $388 now (1% APY). The 2001 Microsoft Xbox would have set you back $300 then and only get you $807 now (7% APY). The only Nintendo product returning more than 7% was the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), selling for $300 in 1985, worth $8,839 today (12% APY). The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) cost $200 in 1991, worth only $579 now. The Nintendo Game Boy was $90 in 1989, worth $461 today. The Nintendo 64 was $200 in 1996, or $723 today (worth it).
CAVEATS: Obviously, this doesn’t take into account all factors, like taxes and the money you’d have to spend on a cheaper replacement for the thing you didn’t buy. But at least it makes me feel a little less bad about only owning a $8.99 calculator as a kid, and I don’t regret any Nintendo product I’ve ever owned.
(All data via Invested Instead. Hat tip to The Next Web)
