'We were five years ahead': the Nokia 9000 Communicator launched 30 years ago today and squandering its smartphone lead will forever haunt Nokia's former CEO

Date:
Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Description:
The Nokia 9000 Communicator was a device ahead of its time, and we're exactly now three decades on from its debut. Here's how the world reacted, before Apple stole its crown.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter What was the first ever smartphone? Ask most people and they'll understandably say the original Apple iPhone, which launched in 2007. But if the definition is a practical device that can send emails and browse the web as well as make calls and send text messages, then there's a strong case for the Nokia 9000 Communicator which launched 30 years ago today on August 15, 1996.

The first Communicator looked like a chunky 1990s mobile phone, but open it up, and there was a keyboard and grayscale LCD screen inside. You could get some actual work done on the go with this phone, as the ads of the time (see below) were keen to stress, and it could even send faxes. "If you want to get on the web while sitting in a pub or on a mountain, wait until 15 August and you will be able to do so in style," said a review from the The Independent
in July 1996. No other phone promised to combine email, fax, a personal organizer and wireless web access in one (just about) pocketable device. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

In honor of this fine gadget now very much a museum piece we're taking a look back at what made the Nokia 9000 Communicator so special, the legacy it left behind it, and how Nokia failed to capitalize on its innovations. This phone never did change the world like the iPhone did, even though it launched eleven years earlier. How did the world react? 30 years ago, everything about the Nokia 9000 Communicator felt cutting edge. You got that 4.5-inch
grayscale LCD, running at a resolution of 640 x 200 pixels, and there was an Intel 386 processor inside. 8MB of memory was included, with 2MB as user storage, 2MB for running programs, and 4MB for holding the operating system and its apps. You may like Quote of the day by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer: 'There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share' a staggering misread of the future of consumer devices 25
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Computer World) "The most spectacular piece of software is the World Wide Web browser. The Web is a great way to look up information a kind of electronic Yellow Pages for the whole world, and with the Nokia 9000 you can carry this in your pocket." Simon Rockman, Personal Computer World (June 1996) A fascinating 'first impressions' review of the Nokia 9000 Communicator in Personal Computer World's June 1996 issue reveals how big a deal this mix of
a personal organizer and mobile phone was at the time. "Put them both
together with some cunning software and you've got a PDA with email, fax and, most impressive of all, internet web browsing facilities. Quite easily the most exciting 397g we've seen for ages," the magazine noted with wonder. The first Communicator also serves as a reminder of the limitations of phone technology time: there was only room in the call history for 10 dialed calls, 10 received calls, and 10 missed calls, for example. But whatever limits
there were, the Communicator was pushing against them. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Not everyone was impressed with its performance, though. An early review from The Independent in July 1996 said: "The Communicator behaved rather poorly when accessing live pages. Given the flaky nature of the web, this could be down to Vodafone, Pipex, Nokia or just plain normal web headaches."

The apps centered around the telephone, fax, SMS, email, and internet features. The browser could render graphics as well as text not that there were many images on the web back in 1996 and it was also possible to use the device to dial into bulletin boards and corporate mainframes. This was very much for business users on the go. There was a rudimentary word processor program included for doing work via the QWERTY keyboard, while other apps included a calendar for meetings and appointments, a calculator, and a world clock so you could see what time zones your colleagues and clients were operating in. What to read next Apple and the curse of the mythical next
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As an added bonus there was also a ringtone composer (remember them?), plus options for connecting to a computer for exchanging files. Packing all of
this into a unit that could still fit in your pocket was a significant achievement by Nokia and its engineers it featured over 1,000 components , compared to the 100-150 that was typical for the time.

The phone also showed up in the 1997 movie The Saint , as it was carried around by Val Kilmer in the title role. Four Communicator models were
released in total, ending with the Nokia 9210i Communicator which launched in 2002 with a color screen and a whopping 40MB of internal memory. The legacy
of the Nokia 9000 Communicator (Image credit: Getty Images / Marc Gantier) While the Nokia 9000 Communicator didn't end up making the same sort of
impact on the industry as the iPhone did, it arguably attracted more hype around the time of its launch: those in the phone business at the time describe struggling to believe that such a versatile and powerful device was possible in such a form factor.

"We had exactly the right view of what it was all about," Jorma Ollila, Nokia's CEO at the time of the launch of the Nokia 9000 Communicator, told
The Wall Street Journal . "We were about five years ahead."

Frank Nuovo, a former chief designer at Nokia, also spoke to the WSJ about
the Communicator and the company's other devices. "I was heartbroken when Apple got the jump on this concept," he said. "When people say the iPhone as
a concept, as a piece of hardware, is unique, that upsets me." (Image credit: textlad) The way that phone history eventually panned out is particularly galling for Nokia, because it too had color touchscreen handsets in development including one that was a similar size to an iPad but never felt ready enough to launch the technology. It had the lead, and then blew it.

Despite all the initial excitement, the Nokia 9000 Communicator ultimately didn't sell well enough outside its target market of business users. It was a relatively bulky device, and a relatively expensive one: it sold for around 1,000 (about 1,355 / AU$1,910) in the UK, so represented a serious
investment.

It was selling to ordinary consumers where the real success was to be found, and that's what Apple got so right with the iPhone in 2007. It combined everything that phones and PDAs could already do, wrapped it all up in an attractive design and an accessible user interface, and priced it at a level that wasn't completely out of reach for most people.

Yet the Nokia 9000 Communicator remains a crucial stepping stone towards our modern world where everyone has a smartphone. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Today's best phone deals Contract Deals Sim Free gift Google Pixel 10 Pro 24 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 200GB data 9 upfront 29.99 /mth View at Mobiles.co.uk See all prices voucher gift Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 48 months Unlimited mins 5GB data 30 upfront 53.95 /mth View at EE See all prices gift Apple iPhone 17 24 months Unlimited mins Unlimited texts 10GB data 19 upfront 34.99 /mth View at Mobiles.co.uk See all prices We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices



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