Today is the 40th anniversary of the birth of the mobile phone, arguably the single most important invention of the last 100 years.
But which models have dominated the mobile space since those early beginnings in 1973? According to the Daily Telegraph, the top twenty best-sellers list is dominated by one phone brand in particular. Can you guess which it is?
Here’s the list in full.
20. Nokia 2650. One of the few clamshell designs from Nokia. Came out in 2004 and went on to sell 35 million.
19. iPhone 3GS. Sold around 35 million.
17 & 18. Samsung Galaxy SII and SIII – each of these has sold around 40 million units.
16. Nokia 6230 – announced in 2003, sold 50 million, and still one of the loudest phones we’ve produced.
15. Nokia 3100 – released in 2003; sold over 50 million. Pink and blue were the best.
14. Motorola StarTAC – back in 1996
13. Motorola C200
12. iPhone 4S – launched in 2011. Estimated at just over 60 million sales.
11. Nokia 5130 – one of the phones to debut XpressMusic; 65 million sold.
10. Nokia 6010 – coming with a colour screen!
9. Nokia 1208 – tough and affordable; 100 million sold.
8. Nokia 1600 – Do you recall playing Soccer League on one of these? 130 million people do.
7. Motorola Razr V3 – last non-Nokia on the list.
6. Nokia 2600 – very nicely designed keyboard on this one.
5. Nokia 3310 – one of my own first Nokias from 2000.
4. Nokia 5230 – one of the youngsters on the list; launched in 2010 and went on to sell 150 million.
3. Nokia 1200 – born 2007; sold 150 million.
2. Nokia 3210 – Adam on the editorial team still owns one of these.
1. Nokia 1110 – sold an astonishing 250 million after it went on sale in 2005.
Between the team, we’ve owned quite a few of this top twenty. Which ones have been part of your mobile kit over the years?