Overview
- The device is marking its 30th anniversary on August 15, 2026, and major outlets published retrospectives reassessing its role as an early smartphone precursor.
- Nokia marketed the 9000 as a 'mobile office' that let users send email and faxes, browse the web, manage contacts and calendars from one clamshell with a full QWERTZ keyboard.
- At launch in August 1996 the Communicator was large and costly, weighing around 400 grams, roughly 4 cm thick and priced at 2,700 Deutsche Mark, which limited it to managers and specialists.
- Nokia evolved the line through models such as the 9110, 9210 (Symbian and color display), the 9300/9500 (WLAN, MMS, EDGE, cameras) and the E90 in 2007, and Microsoft reportedly bought several units after seeing the device at a trade show.
- Retrospectives credit the Communicator with seeding core smartphone ideas but note Nokia’s later software and strategy choices, including a slow move from physical keyboards to touchscreens, left the company exposed when the iPhone reset market expectations.