{"id":594772,"date":"2025-05-29T08:01:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-29T06:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=594772"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:01:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T06:01:35","slug":"woolworths-taking-on-south-african-tech-retailers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/business\/594772-woolworths-taking-on-south-african-tech-retailers.html","title":{"rendered":"Woolworths taking on South African tech retailers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Woolworths says its WConnect department, which stocks various tech products like smartphones, gaming tech, and accessories, has evolved since its in-store-only launch over two decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer quietly made WConnect available online<\/a> in November 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It began as an in-store-only hub that sold cell phones, and today, it is a registered trademark housing the entire Woolworths technology, gaming, and handset business,” the retailer told MyBroadband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths said smartphones are the most popular products the WConnect department sells, followed by accessories and gaming products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“During our most recent Black Friday campaign, we sold more Samsung A05 devices than any other handset,” it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer said its customers can expect even more products in the WConnect catalogue soon, some of which will be “exciting household brands.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woolworths launched the WConnect department in-store in the early 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“WConnect can be found in 140 physical Woolies stores and, as of November 2023, can now be shopped online too,” said Woolworths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Categories listed on the webpage include wearable technology, cellular accessories, gaming, and laptops and tablets. It also lists brand-specific smartphone deals on the main page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It stocks several prominent smartphone brands, including Apple, Hisense, Honor, Huawei, Nokia, Realme, Samsung, Vivo, and Xiaomi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its gaming products include PlayStation 5 Slim Disc consoles and bundled deals, the Xbox Series X, and various gaming accessories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WConnect also lists Apple iPads and MacBook Air laptops, an HP Pavilion 15 i7 laptop with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, and various Android tablets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department also sells various accessories, including phone covers, charging bricks, power banks, and audio equipment like wireless speakers and headphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With over 100 Connect counters across the country, you can now shop Woolworths WConnect online,” said Woolworths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Whether you’re a multitasking mogul or capturing your moments in stunning detail, we’ve got the perfect device to match your lifestyle.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer has also opened Apple Kiosks at its stores in some malls, including its Menlyn Park and Sandton City stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An SMS sent to customers promised that the kiosks would offer significant discounts for large purchases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Get R1,600 off when you purchase any Apple products for R10,000 or more and pay with your Woolies card in a single transaction before 30 June,” the SMS read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apple price showdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An early MyBroadband comparison revealed that, while WConnect’s catalogue was limited at the time, it offered better pricing than iStore<\/a> for the latest flagship Apple smartphones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is still true for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. However, it offers similar pricing to iStore for the iPhone 16e and the base iPhone 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WConnect lists the 256GB variant of the iPhone 16 Pro Max for R29,999, while the iStore and DigiCape both charge R30,499 for the same device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WConnect and iStore charge the same price, R18,999, for the 128GB iPhone 16, while Digicape’s pricing is R500 less, at R18,499.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three retailers charge the same price for the 128GB and 256GB variants of Apple’s latest smartphone, the mid-range iPhone 16e, at R14,999 and R19,499, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cupertino-based tech giant unveiled the iPhone 16e, which replaces the 2022 iPhone SE, in mid-February 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their pricing for the 128GB variant of the iPhone 16e is significantly lower than the recommended retail price for the mid-ranger, which is set at R15,999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, South Africans generally get a bit of a raw deal, with Apple’s launch price for the iPhone 16e being $599 (R10,717 excl. VAT and duties).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retailer also offers the best pricing for the iPhone 15 Pro 256GB, R22,599, which is R3,400 higher than WConnect’s price. iStore doesn’t currently list the iPhone 15 Pro 256GB. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WConnect and iStore offer similar pricing for the 256GB iPhone 15 Pro Max at R28,999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The department currently only lists one Apple MacBook \u2014 the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air with 256GB of storage \u2014 but it is significantly cheaper than iStore’s price for the same laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WConnect charges R13,999 for the 13-inch M1 MacBook Air, R1,000 less than Apple’s R14,999 price tag for the same laptop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The table below compares WConnect, iStore, and DigiCape pricing for various Apple products.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Product<\/th>\nWConnect<\/th>\niStore<\/th>\nDigiCape<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
MacBook Air 13-inch [M1 | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD]<\/td>\nR13,999<\/span><\/td>\nR14,999<\/span><\/td>\nR13,999<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone prices<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16e 128GB<\/td>\nR14,999<\/span><\/td>\nR14,999<\/span><\/td>\nR14,999<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16e 256GB<\/td>\nR19,499<\/span><\/td>\nR19,499<\/span><\/td>\nR19,499<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16 128GB<\/td>\nR18,999<\/span><\/td>\nR18,999<\/span><\/td>\nR18,499<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 16 Pro Max 256GB<\/td>\nR29,999<\/span><\/td>\nR30,499<\/span><\/td>\nR30,499<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 15 128GB<\/td>\nR16,499<\/span><\/td>\nR16,499<\/span><\/td>\nR16,499<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 15 Pro 256GB<\/td>\nR25,999<\/span><\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\nR22,599<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
iPhone 15 Pro Max 256GB<\/td>\nR28,999<\/span><\/td>\nR28,999<\/span><\/td>\n\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Woolworths says its WConnect tech department has grown immeasurably since it launched.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":538087,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[82817,1125,94857,8507,99895],"class_list":["post-594772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-apple-products","tag-iphone","tag-wconnect","tag-woolworths","tag-woolworths-online"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594772"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":595856,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594772\/revisions\/595856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}