Back in August, a local company called AdvanceTC Group (ATC) has launched a new smartphone called Magic Xplore X7. Complete with a launch event that was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, it was touted as one of world’s first Android-based satellite phone which is a title that was also claimed by Thuraya X5-Touch.
If you somehow don’t remember about the phone anymore, we don’t blame you. Since the launch event back in August, the company didn’t provide any updates regarding the phone since then but as it turns out, ATC has actually begun to take pre-orders for Xplore X7.
It is not known when exactly the company opened the pre-order for the phone but based on the pre-order’s website address, it might have started back in mid-September. As part of the pre-order package as stated in the screenshot above, customers will receive a Magic X6L which is ATC’s previous smartphone alongside their Xplore X7.
What is rather shocking is the price of the phone. According to the site, Xplore X7 carries a price tag of RM 4128 and that is after it was slashed from RM 8260. This is definitely quite different from what was mentioned by Herve Jego, the Project Director for Satellite at ATC who has previously stated that the price of Xplore X7 should be “comparable” to existing mid-range to high-end devices.
Meanwhile, it also turns out that ATC has launched a crowdfunding campaign for Xplore X7 on Indiegogo back in September (shown above) as well. With 5 more days left before the campaign closes, it aims to raise USD 800,000 (about RM 3.35 million) of funding which is rather ambitious, but it didn’t receive any backers at all even though the phone is being offered much lower there at RM 3343 through the campaign.
While we might have seen the phone in action ourselves during the launch event back in August, the sketchy looking pre-order site and Indiegogo campaign which mind you, copied a huge chunk of our report and used it as part of its product description, seems to point to one thing: we might be looking at a vaporware right here.
We are now reaching out to ATC to seek further clarifications regarding the current status of its Xplore X7 Android satellite phone. So, stay tuned.
(Source: Magic via MalaysiaInternet.my // Indiegogo. Thanks for the tips, Kugan!)
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