Profiling case manufacturer OtterBox and their Commuter range

Clove’s first set of winners for our birthday giveaway were announced earlier and the runners up can claim an OtterBox Commuter case of their choosing. So who are OtterBox and why have we highlighted their products for our competition?

OtterBox are an American based company founded in 1998 that specialise in device protection with a huge range of cases and styles for almost every major device on the market. Curt Richardson, company founder, began producing rugged waterproof boxes in the mid 90’s to protect electrical devices in the wake (pun intended) of water sports becoming widely popular in America. His wife likened the waterproof nature to that of an otter’s fur and so the name OtterBox was born.

In the early 2000’s OtterBox responded to a customer demand for a custom PDA case, the first step to being a mobile technology big player. The iPod was launched in 2001 and OtterBox were quick to capitalise on the opportunity to make an accessory range, the result was sales shot up as the iPod became the must have gadget of choice.

Since then OtterBox has grown to be one of the largest players in case manufacturing and with close ties to mobile manufacturers is able to get hold of specifications early enough to make sure their products are available in time for, and often before the device launch day – something that even many mobile manufacturers seem unable to do with official accessories! Here at Clove we know when a new device is announced that we are almost certainly going to be stocking at least one OtterBox case for it and due to their great design and reliability are confident in recommending them to many customers.

OtterBox currently have 6 series of cases; Pursuit, Impact, Prefix, Reflex, Commuter and Defender. The Pursuit is the modern version of OtterBox’s original universal drybox, however the other 5 series are available for most devices and vary in their level of protection, from Impact being a simple skin to Defender offering many layers of protection.

We find the Commuter series to be a great seller here at Clove with a fine balance of protection and price. Commuter has a 2 layer protection that begins with a moulded silicone skin that is perfectly formed for your chosen device. After that comes a rigid polycarbonate shell that clips onto the silicone skin. A screen protector is also included for the final touch. Commuter protects against drops, dust and scratches and with the raised edge is good for ‘face-first’ drops as well.