Chinese smartphone brand Vivo Mobile is growing its smartphone portfolio in SA, with the company planning to launch two new devices in July.
This comes nearly six months after it made its debut into the local market when it unveiled the Y11 and Y91C in December last year.
The imminent launch of the two devices, the Y12 and Y30, will see Vivo offer a total of four smartphones retailing in local stores.
The smartphone brand says the devices are part of its “momentous growth” in the local market.
“The plan was always to grow Vivo’s presence in South Africa,” notes Jeff Cao, Vivo SA CEO. “This is an exciting, growing market and we have a rollout strategy that reflects what we believe the consumer needs. The Y12 and Y30 provide a higher spec phone that is still affordable, yet fantastically innovative.”
Founded in 1995, Vivo has a global footprint of over 200 million users,and is present in 30 markets across the globe.
In SA, Vivo competes with brands like Xiaomi, Huawei’s Honor, Mara Group phones and the recently launched Tecno smartphone brand. However, the company plans to sit in the top tier segment of cellphone brands in SA within three years.
“South Africa has responded very well to Vivo’s presence in the market,” says Hawa Hyath, Vivo SA marketing director. “Within a short six months, Vivo has consistently performed at the top of their price tier. This positive feedback has encouraged us to continue with our dedication and growth strategy for the local market. Later in the year, we will continue this rollout with the introduction of our high-end, 5G phones.”
Featuring an artificial intelligence (AI) super-wide-angle camera, Vivo says the Y12’s design was inspired by nature, with a mirror finish that embodies the way colours shift like light refracting off the surfaces of a lake.
It also features an 8MP front camera to allow users to capture delicate facial details, and the AI face beauty option offers facial enhancements for a more beautiful and natural look to selfies.
Like the other devices in the Y-series, the Y12 features a 5 000mAh battery, supported by intelligent power-saving technologies to further extend battery life.
“All work and no play make for a dull day, but the Y12 ultra-game-mode brings all the fun to this device. Play e-sports like a pro by using competition mode, which allocates system resources to prioritise your game’s performance. And when it comes to speed, dual-turbo is the lightning-fast feature gamers need. By reducing frame-drop, it gives you a smoother gaming experience.”
The Y12 will start selling at a recommended retail price of R3 999, and will be available in two colours: aqua blue and burgundy red.
The Y30 will be available in dazzle blue and moonlight white, and also features an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor and fingerprint sensor. Plus, the Y30 supports face unlock.
The smartphone’s camera setup includes a 13MP rear primary camera with an f/2.2 aperture, an 8MP front camera for selfies, digital zoom, auto flash, face detection and touch to focus.
Like the other devices in the Y-series, the device also has a 5 000mAh non-removable battery and a 10W fast-charging option.
Other features include 8GB of RAM and an octa-core MediaTek Helio P35 processor. It runs Funtouch OS based on Android 10 and has 128GB of inbuilt storage.
The Vivo Y30 will retail at the recommended price of R4 999.