Home-grown smartphone company Mobicel wants to make high-quality smartphones available to all South Africans, today launching the R9 for under R2 000.
Mobicel's first device hit stores in 2010 with a feature phone and has since grown from strength to strength. In August, the brand accounted for 14% of total mobile phone market share in SA, second behind Samsung in terms of units sold.
Ridhwan Khan, Mobicel CEO, says the company's end-game is to provide powerful, feature-packed smartphones without the hefty price tag.
The new 4G-enabled R9 has a 5.7-inch touch infinity display, a 20MP and 8MP dual lens front camera with a 120-degree wide-angle view, and low light capability. This is one of the first phones in the world to feature the dual camera set-up at the front of the device.
Khan says this decision was taken to capitalise on the 'selfie' trend. "We were looking at global trends. What else can you put in a device? We thought let's disrupt it and make the selfie the most powerful tool."
There is also a R9 Plus version which has the same features but a 6-inch display.
The Mobicel devices are all developed in SA and manufactured in China. The phones are only sold here for now.
Other features include a fingerprint sensor, 3000mAh, Android N (with no added bloatware) and a Qualcomm octa core processor.
It will cost R1 999 for the R9 and R2 999 for the R9 Plus. They will be available from 1 October in store and now on takealot.com. Mobicel devices are sold at a range of retailers, including The Foshini Group, Edcon Group, Ackermans, Dunns, John Craig, Tekkie Town, Express Connect and Ideals.
Commenting on the closure of another local smartphone brand last year, AG Mobile, Khan says Mobicel learnt a lot of lessons. "We learnt that there is a time and a place for everything. We will grow at our own pace and not try and over-step our limits."
Share