To understand why the Motorola StarTAC became one of the most popular cellphones of all time, it helps to remember that before it came along … “mobile” phones? Well, they were basically bricks with sticks attached. And not too long before that, they were literally the size of a suitcase!
So when the Motorola StarTAC hit the scene in 1996, sporting a footprint smaller than an audio cassette and a design straight outta Star Trek? Well, to say it upended the entire industry would be a massive understatement.
From clip-on accessories to unauthorised sequels to lawsuit-spawning knockoffs to branded companion products to bizarre revivals as late as the mid-oughts … it’s no exaggeration to say, 60 million sales later, that the Motorola StarTAC launched the era of fun phones.
HISTORY
The Motorola StarTAC, first released on 3 January 1996, is often assumed to be the first ever clamshell (flip) mobile phone. Technically however, NEC had been releasing flip phones on NTT Docomo's PDC Mova network way before 1996, namely the TZ-804 and TZ-1501, both respectively launched in 1991 and late 1994.
The StarTAC is the successor of the MicroTAC, a semi-clamshell design first launched in 1989. Whereas the MicroTAC's flip folded down from below the keypad, the StarTAC folded up from above the display. In 2005, PC World named the StarTAC as the 6th Greatest Gadget of the Past 50 Years (out of a list of fifty).
The StarTAC was among the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption; approximately 60 million StarTACs were sold.
The StarTAC brand was revived in 2004 and 2007 for a series of flip phones exclusive to some Asian markets, and again for a cordless phone model.