US Edition We've taken Apple's share close price and calculated the time it would take for 50 shares purchased the day before a launch to return a profit greater than the value of the device.
The iPhone 3GS could originally be purchased for $199 with a contract. If you bought 50 Apple shares for $135.40 on the day before the launch, you'd only have to wait four trading days to sell those shares for $142.35, making a profit of $347.50.
The original iPad would have made you wait nearly a month to make enough of a profit, perhaps due to the delayed launch. The iPad was announced on 27 January 2010, but didn't reach customers until nearly two months later.
The iPad 2, iPhone 4S and the new iPad launches would have returned your money within a few days.
Now all you need to do is raise $27,000 to buy 50 AAPL shares.
Graph inspired by Joyce Kim.