How mobile phones in China have gone from status symbol to disruptive technology
- This week marks 50 years since Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made the first mobile phone call
- China was late to embrace the technology, but is now the largest mobile phone market in the world
Retired businessman He Run remembers his first mobile phone was “the size of a small kettle” and worth more than a year’s salary for most Chinese.
It was 1991, some 18 years after the first mobile phone call was made by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper, and He was one of the few wealthy businessmen in China to own the cutting-edge technology.
The Guangdong native splurged 20,000 yuan – or about US$3,745 at the time – on a clunky Motorola, nicknamed the “da ge da”, which translates to big boss phone thanks to its ubiquitous appearances in Hong Kong gangster films.
“My phone was imported, about the size of a small kettle, and very expensive compared to the monthly income of ordinary people, which was only a few hundred yuan at that time,” said the 75-year-old, adding the phone could only make and receive calls.
“Owning it was definitely a symbol of wealth, power and social status. Only the richest in China could afford it. Most of them were the first batch of private entrepreneurs or import and export traders.”