Ethiopia's First Locally Produced Smartphone to Go on Sale Next Month

(June 25, 2012, Cellular-News)--An Ethiopia based handset manufacturer is set to release its first home-assembled Android smartphone next month, for an estimated price of ETB 6,000-8,000 (US$334-US$445).

The Android 2.3 based device is being produced by Tecno Mobile Ethiopia, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong based company which invested US$1 million in the country last September.

The company already has several phones on the market all of which support the major national languages although the new phone will only support Amharic for the time being said Henry Yu, General Manager of Techno Ethiopia. 

The Amharic language application was developed by a domestic company, Information Technology Transfer Services. The Amharic language software, the Amharic Soft Keyboard and Messaging Application will work on all Android operating systems said Ayalew Aseffa, Founder and Chief Executive of ITTS. 

The country though has an exceptionally low mobile penetration rate and has been held back by a lack of competition due to the state-owned telco holding a monopoly in the market.
Source: Cellular-News

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