Azumi, Vodacom launch new smartphones

MASERU – TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant, Vodacom Lesotho, in association with Azumi Mobile, launched two affordable smartphones in Maseru last night.

The Azumi Speed V5+ and the dual sim A4 Go smartphones are yet another offering from Vodacom’s stable of entry-level smart phones aimed at driving down the cost of smartphones for Basotho customers.

Azumi Mobile range adds to the growing list of innovative new products and services that the company has provided to Basotho over the years and is only a continuation of Vodacom’s plan to continue to put the power of the internet in people’s hands.

The Azumi Speed V5+ is a 4G smartphone that is compact, stylish and light (112g) it comes with a 5MP camera and 8GB on board memory.
At just M699, the Speed V5+ also comes with a free screen protector, back cover and a pop socket included in the box.

Speaking at the launch at a local hotel last night, Tayshira Khan, Head of Azumi Africa, said Lesotho was the first country in the Vodacom markets to launch Azumi.

She said although it has been a long journey it was one that was worth taking as both entities had the same vision of driving down the cost of smartphones and minimizing the digital divide.

“We launched a first dual sim in the market even though in the beginning there was a bit of reluctance. However, after realising that a lot of Basotho travel between South Africa and Lesotho, the dual sim was a need,” Tayshira said.

Sylvester Moyo, Head of Terminals, said Azumi came in during a period when there was an influx of Chinese phone manufacturers who wanted to bring smartphones into Africa.

What set Azumi apart was their willingness to come in with a product that would be of good quality at affordable prices.

“Handset prices are always unaffordable and as a result customers tend to opt for non-smartphone handsets,” Moyo said.

He said the market response had been relatively good and can only hope that from now onwards more quality devices that are specifically tailored for Lesotho are accessible.

Vodacom in partnership with Azumi Mobile will be giving away prizes to the value of M100 000 in November and December including flat screen TVs, shopping vouchers, meal vouchers, airtime and more.
Customers will automatically be entered into the draw when purchasing an Azumi Speed V5+. The Azumi A4 Go is the first dual sim for Vodacom Lesotho, offering customers the benefit of using two sim cards in the same phone.

The one sim slot is locked to Vodacom Lesotho and the other is locked to Vodacom South Africa. The reason for this innovation is that many Basotho residents migrate back and forth from South Africa and we wanted to ensure they can use their smartphone on both sides of the border.

This becomes another way in which Vodacom continues to make it affordable to access the internet, as part of the company’s on-going strive to drastically reduce the cost of communication across the board for Basotho.
Azumi Speed V5+ and A4 Go devices are available at all Vodacom retail outlets across the country.

Azumi Mobile is a leading global mobile handset company providing a wide range of handsets to customers including a variety of feature and smartphones.

Originating in South America with a large customer base, it has expanded to Africa where the local headquarters resides in Johannesburg with distribution of devices into 11 countries in Africa and growing.

Speaking on Behalf of the Managing Director Tsepo Maketela said it through partnership with Azumi that now the numbers are sitting at sixty per cent towards minimizing the digital divide and twenty per cent for 4g penetration. “We would like to reach a fifty per cent mark at least in the next three years and as the first country that launched 5g in Africa we will also like to see its numbers increase.

Business Reporter