The Haier P7 was a pen-shaped GSM phone whose slim silver body hid a screen, camera and number keys.
Announced in 2004, it packed tri-band GSM/GPRS, a VGA camera and diagonal keypad into a 65-gram handset with a metal pocket clip. FCC records also called the model Puccini, but its pen-like shape did not include a writing function.
Haier promoted it at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and through a Golden Globe gift campaign. The P7 is now classed as discontinued, although no exact withdrawal date is known.
History
Announced in 2004, it packed tri-band GSM/GPRS, a VGA camera and diagonal keypad into a 65-gram handset with a metal pocket clip. FCC records also called the model Puccini, but its pen-like shape did not include a writing function.
History
Haier promoted it at the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and through a Golden Globe gift campaign. The P7 is now classed as discontinued, although no exact withdrawal date is known.
Significance
In the early 2000s, mobile-phone manufacturers experimented with increasingly unconventional designs as they competed to make their handsets stand out. The P7 took this trend to an extreme, sacrificing conventional proportions for a remarkably narrow, pocketable form.
Its unusual shape attracted attention, but also made everyday tasks less comfortable. The handset illustrates the trade-off between distinctive industrial design and practical usability before touchscreen smartphones reshaped the market.
Design and Hardware
- The FCC test report identifies the handset as model P7/Puccini, with Haier Telecom (Qingdao) as applicant and Chi Mei Communication Systems as manufacturer.
- The handset measured approximately 150 × 27 × 18.2 mm and weighed 65 grams.
- Its documented hardware included tri-band GSM/GPRS, a 128 × 64 colour display, a VGA camera and voice recording.
- A five-way controller, blue illumination and a metal pocket clip were built into the narrow silver body.
Certification, Launch and Promotion
- Regulatory materials existed by August 2004, and the FCC equipment-authorisation record is dated 15 September 2004.
- The Mobile Phone Museum gives October 2004 as the announcement month, while Engadget covered the P7 on 19 October.
- Sina lists a December 2004 market date, but a March 2005 report still described a Jiangsu launch as forthcoming, indicating staged regional circulation.
- Haier displayed the P7 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January 2005 and recorded using it in a Golden Globe gift promotion.
Use and Discontinuation
- A United States owner documented using the P7 on T-Mobile by December 2005.
- Hands-on accounts found the narrow controls, small keypad and sideways screen orientation awkward to use.
- A December 2005 owner review said the handset resembled an ink pen but did not function as one.
- Current device records classify the P7 as discontinued, but no manufacturer withdrawal notice or exact final-production date is known.
Key facts
**Region:** China
**Associated With:** Haier Telecom (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. - equipment-authorisation applicant
**Defining Feature:** Pen-like silver body with diagonal numeric keys and a metal pocket clip
**Status:** Discontinued - exact withdrawal date unknown
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