Johannesburg-based Onyx Connect is betting on local talent to build affordable Android-based smartphones for the African market after inking a software licensing deal with Google.
The South African startup, will begin mass producing a $30 smartphone in June this year. The new phone will be the first of its kind to be manufactured in Africa.
To date, Onyx has produced the Nexa smartphone and the Onyx tablet by sourcing manufacturing, logistics and supply networks from China. But a recent license obtained through Google enables the company to include Android and Chrome software on its own manufactured devices. Onyx says it will eventually produce $30 devices that include a front and rear cameras, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 1.3GHz quad core processor and runs the latest Android 7 Nougat.