The launch of locally-manufactured smartphones and tablets is taking longer than expected, as the company that is bringing the gadgets to market wraps up talks with cellular companies and retailers in a bid to secure orders.
Two South African firms, Seemahale Telecoms and CZ Electronic Manufacturing, teamed up on a project that will see smartphones and tablets being designed and put together in a Boksburg factory. Production was initially expected to start in the first quarter of this year.
However, Seemahale Telecoms chairman Thabo Lehlokoe says there has been a slight delay in this process, as talks with mobile operators and retailers are taking longer than initially anticipated. He says these are now being wrapped up and are moving to the commercial aspects as technical issues have been resolved.
Lehlokoe says numbers are being thrown around and it is looking positive for the first orders to start coming in. He adds some retailers, which he cannot yet name, are keen to take the devices into Africa.
Pipeline
The gadgets target the lower end of the market, although the team behind them argues they have higher specifications than other similarly priced units. A five-inch Android-based smartphone is expected to sell for R2 200, while a 10.1-inch tablet should hit the shelves at R3 100 as discounts are being offered for the launch.
The locally-assembled units, which should have launched at the end of March, will start being produced as soon as orders are in, says Lehlokoe. He hopes to wrap up outstanding issues next month and can then work on the launch.
Lehlokoe adds the company is working on chipset roadmaps with the chip manufacturers for more devices and also aims to launch a four-inch unit in the next few months, which should retail at R899.
Production will take between four and six weeks from when the first order is placed as the company needs to ship in components from China, says Lehlokoe.
An ITWeb poll on the devices showed that, of the 191 people who voted, 15% would steer clear of the devices, 51% would wait and see if they are worth the money, and 34% would support the companies because they are South African.
The poll is not definitive, due to its limited scope, and also does not represent the companies' target market, as Lehlokoe aims to get more people connected to the Internet.
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