Sonim Technologies is the maker of the toughest phones in the world. They manufacture phones that withstand the harshest of conditions-- conditions that would break the average phone in just seconds. I learned about this company and the phones that they make because they are my team's client in NUvention web.In my opinion these phones are amazingly engineered and designed. As mentioned above they are designed to withstand conditions that would break any phone in an instant. but what does being "the most indestructible phone in the world" mean?. Since no phones as rugged as these existed in the market Sonim had to create the "Sonim 12 rugged performance standards" which are:
- Extra long battery life
- Durable keyboard
- Extra loud speakers
- Protection from dust
- Protection from water (they have one fully submersible model)
- Resistant to shock and vibration
- Protection from drops (up to 10 stories)
- Resistance to extreme temperatures
- Resistance to extreme pressure
- Impenetrable
- Resistance to petroleum oil
- 3 year unconditional guarantee
Sonim phones are bought as a second phone and they cost around $500. They are very expensive but I believe that if you work in extreme conditions or do extreme sports it is a great investment to make. You are probably asking yourself, why is it considered a second phone then? The reason is that Sonim has to tradeoff cutting edge technologies for rugged capabilities. In order to have a phone as rugged as this one you have to let go of some innovative features that other phones in the market have. For example, you cannot have the newest screen in the market because it would not be able to support a 10 story drop as Sonim phones do. Customers are not willing to let go of cutting edge technology from their primary phone.
I think that these phones are going to have a hard time entering the US market because there is no mentality for a second phone in this country, but in the end they will succeed. Even though it is a great phone, a brilliant idea and an amazing design people would debate a lot if they should buy this phone because it is expensive and it is not convenient to have two phones. In my opinion, as soon as word of mouth is spread and people start believing in this product, it will be a very successful product because Sonim understood what their consumers wanted.
What do you think? Do you know anyone that would buy this phone? Would you buy it?
Take a look at this video in their website to see what this phone is capable of standing!
I think you're analysis is right on when you say that there is not much of a market for a second phone, especially if you have to pay for another service plan. What would be really interesting is if someone could just switch their service plan (using a SIM card or some other method for CDMA phones) to the rugged phone on days when they are out doing rugged activities. This way, you could still receive all of your calls and messages throughout the day. Then again, when you're participating in extreme sports, do you really want to be distracted by people calling you? I feel like people often go into the wild to get away. I can see the phone being useful for communication among people doing extreme sports together, but there are already solutions for most of those situations-like radios. I can't see people wanting to have a seperate number and service plan for their rugged phone.
ReplyDeleteI think this phone is a great concept. However one problem I see with this phone is the issue of service. I don't see people purchasing this for a ski or camping trip, but I could definitely see people purchasing this phone for an expedition to Mount Everest or an adventure down the amazon river. However, in that case I don't believe there would be service in the locations that this phone is intended for. These adventurers and explorers would most likely be more comfortable with professional radios rather than this cell phone. So I'm not quite sure what market they can effectively target... I'll look around their website so more to learn more about the business and phone.
ReplyDeleteActually it does seem like there are many industrial uses that I did not initially think of. I'd imagine a good portion of their sales are from business to business.
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