This archive report was first published on 26 September 2019.
Kenya's mobile market has a new champion: the Safaricom Neon smartphone. According to the company, it has sold over 600,000 of these devices in 2019 alone.
Launched in April 2019, the Neon was introduced as the most affordable 4G smartphone in the country, priced at KSh 3,999 (approximately $38.48).
"We designed the Neon range to cater to customers seeking quality and reliable smartphones at an affordable price," said Michael Joseph, Safaricom's Chief Executive Officer.
The Neon's popularity can be attributed to its optimized combination of screen size, battery capacity, device storage, camera, and phone memory, all at a low price.
Additionally, Safaricom has partnered with Google to deliver an optimized version of Android (Go edition) on the Neon devices.
As a result, the Neon range is also rated as the most affordable Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) capable devices in Kenya, a feature that was launched in June.
