We cannot say whether the mobile phone is the invention of the twentieth century or not, but we know that it has become an indispensable item for many people.
Since 1910, when the Swedish inventor and businessman Lars Magnus Ericsson toyed with the idea of mobile devices, they were upgraded and acquired a number of new features. Future phones could look totally different from what we know today.
A first look at what future generation of mobile devices have in store for us has been possible in the Consumer Electronics Show, the largest event in the world of electronics and technology held in Las Vegas in early January: Samsung showed a prototype of smartphone that has rounded edges and which provides the possibility to view the content even along the side of the device.
But until they become a reality, we must take a look into the past.
If news about the millions of units sold by the top two the most important players in the smartphone area makes you think that smartphones are the best sold models from the last two decades, you’re couldn’t be more wrong.
Finnish phone manufacturer Nokia is awarded the title of absolute king in the telecom industry and is in the top 20 most sold mobile phones no less than 13 devices which were sold in the tens of millions of units. Absolute surprise comes from the fact that the model 1110, launched eight years ago by the Finnish manufacturer, is the best selling cell phone of the last decades: 250 million units have been delivered since its appearance on the market.
The Americans from Motorola are present with three models. Launched in 2004, Motorola RAZR V3 is ranked seventh among the most sold mobile phones, with 130 million units shipped. But let’s have a look at the top ten bestselling mobile devices of all times.
As previously stated, the undeniable king is Nokia 1110, which sold 250 million units since the moment it was launched in 2005. Couldn’t do much, but its battery could last for at least one entire week and you could also hit someone with it and nothing would happen to the phone.
2. Nokia 3210
We started with Nokia, we are continuing with Nokia. The 3210 model is probably the favorite in this list and it sold 160 million units. Can you believe it was released in 1999?
3. Nokia 1200
It seems like it, but this is not a bestselling mobile devices from Nokia top. The 1200 model was present in stores for the first time in 2007 and it sold 150 million units.
4. Nokia 5230
The Nokia 5230 was launched in 2010 and it sold 150 million units in just a couple of years.
5. Nokia 3310
Released in 200, the Nokia 3310 sold 136 million units. I was among those people and let me tell you that I dropped the phone on hard surfaces on many occasions and it was simply intact, not even a scratch on it.
6. Nokia 2600
135 million units were sold since 2004, when Nokia 2600 was first released.
7. Mototola RAZR V3
Finally, a different mobile device manufacturer. This model from Motorola was released in 2004 and managed to sell 130 million units.
8. Nokia 1600
And we’re back to Nokia. The 1600 model was launched in 2006 and it sold the same number of units as the Motorola model, only in a shorter period of time.
9. Nokia 1208
Another successful model from Nokia, the 1208 version, sold 100 million units, after being released in 2007.
10. Nokia 6010
75 million units since 2004.
If we were to continue the top, we would find many more Nokia mobile devices. It’s worth mentioning that iPhone 4S sold 60 million units in 2 years. Another iPhone, the 3GS sold about 35 million units since it was first released in 2009. The Koreans from Samsung also hit it big with Samsung Galaxy S2, which sold about 40 million units since 2011 and also with S3 model which appeared in 2012 and has already sold 40 million units.
Needless to say that Nokia is forever going to be remember as the bestselling brand for mobile devices, but in a couple of years, with iPhone and Samsung coming in strong, perhaps the top will change.
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