Serial South African entrepreneur and MD of Pretune Technologies Hloni Theko is introducing a new line of handsets and accessories - VeryKool - to South African shores.
Speaking to ITWeb, Theko confirms that through his investment vehicle, he has acquired 51% shareholding in VeryKool Africa.
"The deal took a few months to conclude, and Craig Herr (former sales and product manager at AG Mobile) was the key facilitator, as he previously held the majority shareholding in VeryKool Africa. Herr proposed the partnership, after he had initially acquired the rights to bring the products into Africa. He was hoping to draw on the extensive experience I have in the telecoms industry, which ranges from provision of broadband infrastructure for ISPs to also understanding end-user patterns in consumption of data and voice products, as well as how they purchase these products. At this point, the financial details have to be kept private," explains Theko.
Owned by American InfoSonics Corporation, VeryKool is a currently available in 20 countries and five continents around the world. "This is the first time the handsets and accessories will be venturing into Africa. We currently have our products sold through Ackermans stores nationwide, as well as having them sold in Shoprite Connect stores nationwide," says Theko. "There are plans to expand to other parts of the continent. We already have a presence in Namibia and we are targeting having a presence in the whole SADC region by June 2018, and cover most of the continent, if not all of it, by mid-2019."
Theko adds the company's target market is primarily the youth segments, who are looking to enjoy premium cellphone services and have comparable speed to the premium brands, but cannot afford them.
"Our entry-level smartphones are retailing at R849 and our handset range is affordable to all. Our return rate is comparable to Apple, Samsung and Huawei, meaning the quality of our devices is very high.
"We also have plans to localise the production of some of our devices, with plans to build a local manufacturing plant. We also aim to introduce a programme to assist local developers and the general public, which will want to develop apps, with the best being preloaded on to our future devices," he notes.
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