Nokia released the Nokia 9000 Communicator back in 1996 and it was considered cutting edge with nice little keyboard, 4.5” monochrome non-touch display and 8Mb of RAM. By today’s standard, the Nokia 9000 looks clunky but it quietly revolutionized the entire mobile industry. Although laughable by today’s standard, the handset was actually the first smartphone ever and things have changed significantly ever since. First considered as gadgets only for professional and elites, smartphones have covered all market segments and some models are even designed specifically for kids or elderly.
In a recent report, it was revealed that there are now 1 billion active smartphones in the world. Nokia was an undisputable force in the smartphone industry until the arrival of Apple iPhone in 2007. The original iPhone takes the smartphone industry into the next level and virtually all touch-based smartphones sold today are influenced by original iPhone’s design. Africa, India, China and other developing regions still represent huge opportunity for smartphone makers as many people still don’t have smartphones yet.
