Motorola MicroTAC 9800X

The first phone that was not a brick
- Date launched: 1989
- Network: Various analogue
- Form: Flip phone
- Cost new: £1765
- Can you use it today: No
In 1989 mobile phone service providers were slashing the prices of handsets to attract new customers. Motorola set out to capture the top end of the market. The Motorola MicroTAC 9800X was the smallest and lightest handset on the market. Whilst other phones were bricks, the MciroTAC promised the shape of things to come.
In spite of a price tag of $3000, or £1765, the MicroTAC was well received. The MicroTAC set Motorola's strategy to produce attention seeking flagship phones that often succeeded to be the coolest mobiles on the planet.
The MicroTAC redefined the look of the mobile phone and introduced a new form, the 'Flip Phone'. The flip became the basic shape of Motorola's premium and mid range phones until the StarTAC came along in 1996.
Although, the 9800X was a breakthrough, it cemented Motorola's commitment to analogue phones, which in 1989, were still new. However, the future of mobile communications lay in GSM and Motorola was slower to adjust to the new game than some of its competitors, perhaps because of Motorola's roots in the USA where analogue looked like it would last.
Resources
Wikipedia page - Motrola 9800X
References
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Mobile phone history
Celebrating mobile life
Me lo fornirono nel lontano 1989 dietro ad un acquisto di 20 milioni di materiale bosch di ricambi auto.
(translation)I own a cell phone bosch cartel sl E / 1 in perfect condition . It ' a limited series and custom MicroTac 9800x motorola .
They provided me back in 1989 behind a purchase of 20 million material bosch auto parts ." graziano 01/25/2015
Please let me know if anyone is intereted" Paul Spooner 11/09/2015
-Ariah Langston" Wolfy of London 05/09/2016
-Ariah Langston" Wolfy of London 05/09/2016