• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026

1

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
TechThe Mobile Executive

That Time Steve Ballmer Laughed at the iPhone

By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Don Reisinger
Don Reisinger
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 10, 2017, 10:45 AM ET
New LA Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer News Conference
Steve Ballmer, former chief executive officer of Microsoft Corp., speaks to fans as he is introduced as the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 18, 2014. Ballmer bounded onstage at a Staples Center rally that was was attended by about 3,000 people, many wearing red We Are Clippers T-shirts. Photographer: Kevork Djansezian/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Kevork Djansezian — Bloomberg/Getty Images

Once upon a time, a Microsoft CEO thought Apple was making a big mistake on a device it called the iPhone. And then Apple laughed.

In an interview with the BBC on Monday commemorating the iPhone’s 10th anniversary, Tony Fadell, one of the early members on the iPhone development team and founder of smart home company Nest, recalled the time then-Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer laughed at the iPhone, calling it a “not very good email machine.” He also scoffed in the 2007 interview at the iPhone’s launch of a keyboard, which he thought, wouldn’t make it an attractive option for business customers, and thought its $500 starting price was too high.

According to Fadell, Apple (AAPL) heard the interview with Ballmer and everyone on the iPhone team “laughed at him.”

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

But Ballmer, whose iPhone evaluation has been panned for a decade, wasn’t the only target of Apple’s laughter. Fadell, whose company Nest was acquired by Google in 2014 for $3.2 billion, told the BBC that Apple also chuckled at BlackBerry (BBRY), the company that at the time had been selling popular smartphones but would ultimately succumb to the iPhone onslaught.

“We also laughed at Blackberry,” he told the BBC. “Whenever I create a new product , and I learned this with Steve [Jobs], if the incumbents laugh at you and the press laugh at you, you go, ‘we’ve hit a nerve’.”

Fadell’s comments were published on the 10th anniversary of the iPhone’s unveiling.

For more about iPhone, watch:

Apple’s first handset was made public on January 9, 2007 during late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs’ Macworld 2007 keynote at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Jobs obviously had a much different take on the iPhone’s future than Ballmer, calling it a “revolutionary” product during his keynote. The iPhone ultimately went on sale in June of that year. Now ten years later, more than 1 billion iPhones have been sold worldwide.

While Ballmer laughed off the iPhone’s features, he also acknowledged in the interview that the handset might ultimately sell well. He just didn’t believe that Apple’s strategy was the best one. Ballmer, though, was ultimately pushed out of Microsoft in part because of his slow response to the growing popularity of the iPhone and Android-based smartphones.

One other tidbit from the Fadell interview: he once was on a plane with an iPhone prototype and lost it. After two hours of searching, he found it lodged between seats. It was a fortuitous find: Jobs had already warned the team that anyone who let word of the iPhone slip would be fired.

About the Author
By Don Reisinger
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

How the multibillion dollar AI data center boom has transformed CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate company
Real EstateData centers
How the multibillion dollar AI data center boom has transformed CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate company
By Sharon GoldmanMay 20, 2026
7 minutes ago
Why the AI field’s biggest names are betting billions on ‘world models’
MagazineAutomation
Why the AI field’s biggest names are betting billions on ‘world models’
By Sharon GoldmanMay 20, 2026
2 hours ago
Google’s I/O conference showed how the company is being completely rebuilt for AI—for better or for worse
Big TechGoogle
Google’s I/O conference showed how the company is being completely rebuilt for AI—for better or for worse
By Alexei Oreskovic and Sharon GoldmanMay 19, 2026
10 hours ago
Bolt CEO Ryan Breslow
Workplace CultureFortune Workplace Innovation
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
11 hours ago
Svenja Gudell, Chief Economist, Indeed
SuccessFortune Workplace Innovation
Indeed chief economist says the sectors most exposed to AI are seeing a big growth in job demand
By Emma BurleighMay 19, 2026
12 hours ago
A Pizza Hut workers prepares an order for delivery.
LawFood and drink
Pizza Hut franchisee claims $100 million losses from ‘cascading operational breakdowns’ in AI adoption gone wrong
By Sasha RogelbergMay 19, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 
Workplace Culture
Bolt CEO says he let go of his entire HR team for creating problems that didn’t exist: ‘Those problems disappeared when I let them go’: 
By Preston ForeMay 19, 2026
11 hours ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
8 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 19, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 19, 2026
19 hours ago
Employers are quietly pausing 401(k) matches again. The last time this happened was the 2008 recession and Covid
Personal Finance
Employers are quietly pausing 401(k) matches again. The last time this happened was the 2008 recession and Covid
By Courtney Vinopal and HR BrewMay 18, 2026
2 days ago
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold
Economy
While Trump insisted the Iran war would end ‘soon,’ an account in his name was buying millions in oil, defense, and gold
By Eva RoytburgMay 18, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Monday, May 18, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 18, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.