How this rugged phone maker from Shenzhen is trying to crack the ice in the US and colder European markets
- AGM is targeting outdoor adventure enthusiasts, as well as professionals in dangerous lines of work such as firefighters
- AGM’s Glory model is marketed as being able to withstand minus 27 degrees Celsius temperatures for 11 hours
Just as the world’s biggest smartphone companies are going all out to make their handsets slimmer and lighter, Shenzhen phone maker AGM has decided to go in the opposite direction – wooing a niche group of overseas users with a weighty rugged phone.
“Venturing abroad is a general trend for Chinese phone makers, and while brands like Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi can break through the mainstream smartphone market, I believe there will be a place for small players like us,” Ding said. “We are happy to make a phone for just one out of 1,000 consumers, rather than squeezing into the mainstream market.”
Ding’s attempt is AGM’s Glory model, which is marketed as being able to withstand minus 27 degrees Celsius temperatures for 11 hours. This will likely appeal to to users in markets like Russia and the US, where standard, mainstream handsets can often fail at around minus 10 degrees, Ding said.
The battery that enables the phone to function in very cold temperatures pushes the weight of the device to 350 grams, compared with 240 grams for the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Designed as a modular phone that allows users to change and add components, the phone is equipped with a night vision camera, an infrared camera and a laser telemeter. These components are partly responsible for driving the cost of the AGM handset up to US$799.