To provide a mobile information terminal that facilitates an operation of switching communication methods, the mobile terminal includes a first housing, a second housing connected to the first housing in a relatively movable manner, a status detecting portion, a WiMAX communication portion, a CDMA communication portion, and a mode switching portion. The second housing has a first part and a second part on its surface facing the first housing. The mobile terminal can be changed in status to a data communication style in which the first part is exposed and to a voice call style in which the second part is exposed. The status detecting portion detects whether the mobile terminal is in the data communication style or in the voice call style (S03). The mode switching portion switches the communication mode, on the basis of the status detected by the status detecting portion (S05, S21), to either a data communication mode in which communication is performed using the WiMAX communication portion, or a CDMA communication mode in which communication is performed using the CDMA communication portion (S10, S22).