Mobile Phone [Sony CM H333]

Maker and role
Sony Corporation, Manufacturer
Production date
1992
See full details

Object detail

Accession number

2021.8.7

Maker

Sony Corporation

Production period

1990s

Description

Sony CM H333 Mobile Phone.

Part 1: Black and grey mobile phone. At the top is an extendable black antenna and a black textile strap is attached. The front has a grey earpiece which can slide up to reveal an image of a phone and the text, "CELLULAR / TELEPHONE" in white. A rectangular. A rectangular LCD screen with the text “CM-H333” written in red is located beneath this. Below the screen is the keypad consisting of various buttons numbered 1-9 and the text, "SEND / END / ABC / [...]". At the bottom "SONY" is printed in white. At the bottom of the phone is a port. On the left-hand side is two black buttons with "VOL" printed in white. On the back of the phone is "SONY / PUSH" printed in white and a push button which released the battery. A black sticker reads, "SONY / CM-H333 / CELLULAR TELEPHONE / SERIAL NO. 0065098 / FCC ID: AK8CMH333 MADE IN JAPAN". A white sticker has black text, "PTC 252/93/025".

Part 2: Removable black battery. The sides are grooved for better grip. Hand-written in black is "U.S.". A white sticker reads, "NICKEL-CAMIUM BATTERY / [...]". Etched into the surface is the text, "SONY ON-333BP / BATTERY PACK / 4.8V 900mA / MADE IN JAPAN / [...]". "ABIC" is printed in black on the bottom of the battery.

Brief History

Sony was a relatively late entrant to the mobile phone market; this CM H333 phone, launched in 1992 and known as the “Mars Bar” phone, was one of their first models, intended to challenge Motorola and Nokia by trading on the widely known Sony name. The slide up earpiece functioned to answer and end calls.
Sony and Ericsson, the Swedish phone manufacturer, formed a joint venture to manufacture mobile phones in 2001, under the Sony Ericsson brand, and mobile phones launched under this brand drew on Sony’s portable music player technology.

Marks

CELLULAR / TELEPHONE / CM-H333 Printed
SEND / END / ABC / [...] Printed
SONY Printed
VOL Printed
SONY / PUSH Printed
SONY / CM-H333 / CELLULAR TELEPHONE / SERIAL NO. 0065098 / FCC ID: AK8CMH333 MADE IN JAPAN Sticker
PTC 252/93/025 Sticker
U.S. Hand-written
NICKEL-CAMIUM BATTERY / [...] Sticker
SONY ON-333BP / BATTERY PACK / 4.8V 900mA / MADE IN JAPAN / [...] Etched
ABIC Printed

Media/Materials

Processed Material/Metal
Processed Material/Synthetic/Plastic
Processed Material/Textile

Other name

Cell Phone

Credit Line

Sony Corporation. 1992. Mobile Phone [Sony CM H333], 2021.8.7. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).

Related resources

https://www.motat.nz/collections-and-stories/stories/a-history-of-mobile-phones//