Do You Know the First Smartphone Was Released in 1994? IBM Simon Facts and Specs

Quick answer: The first smartphone was the IBM Simon Personal Communicator, which went on sale on August 16, 1994, in the United States. It combined a cellular phone, a touchscreen, an address book, a calendar, email and fax in one 18-ounce device. It cost $899 | AED 3,302 with a two-year contract, and it had just 1 MB of storage. The word “smartphone” came later, but the idea started here.

Most people would guess the first smartphone arrived with the iPhone in 2007. In reality, a phone with a touchscreen, apps and email existed 13 years earlier, and it was built by a company better known for mainframes. This guide walks through the verified facts, the real numbers and the surprising ways the Simon still shapes the phone in your pocket. Facts verified as of September 30, 2026.

Did You Know the First Smartphone Launched in 1994?

IBM engineer Frank Canova led the concept, and the working prototype, codenamed “Sweetspot,” was shown at the COMDEX trade show in Las Vegas on November 16, 1992. The commercial version, made by Mitsubishi Electric, launched on August 16, 1994 through BellSouth Cellular. It was discontinued in February 1995, so it stayed on sale for only about six months. The IBM Simon overview lists roughly 50,000 units sold, and the Computer History Museum describes it as the first smartphone, combining a phone, organizer, fax and pager.

IBM Simon Specs: What Was Inside the First Smartphone?

The table below is NexPloreInfo’s compiled comparison of the Simon against the original iPhone, using the launch figures reported in the sources linked in this article.

The storage gap is the most striking number. The original 4 GB iPhone held roughly 4,000 times more data than the Simon’s 1 MB. Yet the Simon already shipped with a calendar, address book, calculator, notepad, world clock and the ability to send email, faxes and pages.

How Much Did the First Smartphone Cost in Today’s Money?

At $899 with a contract, the Simon looks cheap next to a modern flagship, but inflation changes the picture. Using US consumer price index data, NexPloreInfo estimates that $899 in 1994 equals roughly $1,900 to $2,000 today, or about AED 7,000 to 7,300. That puts it in the same league as a top foldable phone in 2026. Without a contract, the $1,099 price would be well above $2,300 in today’s dollars. Its price was later cut to $599 with a contract as sales stayed slow.

Why the First Smartphone Failed (and What It Got Right)

The Simon did not fail because the idea was wrong. It failed because the supporting technology was not ready. Three problems stand out:

• Battery: The 7.5V NiCad battery lasted roughly one hour of use, so heavy users needed to keep a charger nearby.
• Size and weight: At 510 g, it was heavier than almost any phone sold today, and it looked like a brick.
• Networks: Mobile data barely existed. Email and fax relied on slow, early cellular connections, and coverage was limited to BellSouth’s service area.

What it got right was the concept. It used a touchscreen instead of physical buttons, it could run extra software, and it treated a phone as a personal computer. Third-party software such as a remote desktop tool called DispatchIt could be added, an early hint of the app store idea that Apple and Google would make mainstream.

Where Does the Word “Smartphone” Come From?

Here is a detail many articles get wrong: nobody at IBM sold the Simon as a “smartphone.” IBM and BellSouth called it a “Personal Communicator.” The term “smartphone” was applied to it in hindsight, and the definition of “first” depends on what you count. If a smartphone means a phone with a touchscreen, apps and data features, the Simon is the first commercial one. If it means a device with an app store and a modern mobile browser, the honest answer is later, with the iPhone (2007) and Android (2008) defining that era. NexPloreInfo uses the first definition here, which is also the one used by museums such as the Computer History Museum.

How the 1994 Idea Shaped Phones in 2026

Look at the Simon’s feature list and you can see today’s phone in early form: contacts, calendar, email, notes and a touchscreen. What changed is the hardware and the economics. Phones now carry tens or hundreds of gigabytes, and the memory chips inside them are becoming a real cost issue, as we explained in our look at why AI is raising smartphone prices in 2026. Foldable designs are also reviving the idea of a bigger, more computer-like phone, which you can see in our coverage of the iPhone Duo, Apple’s first foldable iPhone. And the chips that power modern AI features owe a lot to the company profiled in our Nvidia facts and figures article.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the first smartphone ever made?

The IBM Simon Personal Communicator, released on August 16, 1994, is widely recognized as the first commercial smartphone. Its prototype was first shown in November 1992.

How much did the first smartphone cost?

It cost $899 with a two-year contract and $1,099 without one, roughly $1,900 to $2,000 in today’s money based on NexPloreInfo’s inflation estimate.

How much storage did the first smartphone have?

The IBM Simon had 1 MB of flash storage, about 4,000 times less than the 4 GB original iPhone.

Was the iPhone the first smartphone?

No. The iPhone launched in June 2007, about 13 years after the Simon. It did, however, popularize the modern multi-touch, app-driven smartphone.

How many IBM Simon phones were sold?

Roughly 50,000 units were sold before it was discontinued in February 1995.

Bottom Line

The IBM Simon was too early, too heavy and too expensive, but it proved that a phone could be a pocket computer. Next time you unlock your phone, remember that its earliest ancestor had 1 MB of storage and a battery that lasted about an hour. For a related read on the sources, see the Smithsonian’s IBM Simon object record.