{"id":650891,"date":"2026-06-04T17:11:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:11:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=650891"},"modified":"2026-06-04T17:15:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:15:35","slug":"south-africas-only-successful-smartphone-brand-has-a-new-range-of-devices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/smartphones\/650891-south-africas-only-successful-smartphone-brand-has-a-new-range-of-devices.html","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s only successful smartphone brand has a new range of devices"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africa’s only successful domestic smartphone brand, Mobicel, has made waves in the country with its recently launched Spectra brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company’s spokesperson, Yusuf Akoojee, told MyBroadband that Spectra devices were now available from all major retailers across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The J3 is designed to bring consumers the latest trends, premium-inspired design, and great specifications at an affordable price point,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Retailing at R1,099, the J3 gives consumers access to ‘premiumness’ in their everyday device without the premium price tag.” The phone comes bundled with wireless earphones and a protective case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Spectra has not released full specifications for the newly launched J3 as yet, it has revealed some, including that it has a 13MP rear camera and runs Android 16 Go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akoojee said that Spectra’s strategy was clear: to deliver stylish, feature-packed devices that combine quality, modern trends, and affordability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Since launching in 2025, Spectra has seen rapid growth across South Africa and is now available nationwide in all key retailers,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akoojee said Spectra would continue to grow as a lifestyle technology brand and continue to offer smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobicel CEO Ridhwan Khan added that the company was proud to see consumers across South Africa responding so positively to the brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Retailers are equally excited to have the Spectra brand on-shelf as demand continues to grow,” Khan stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2025, Mobicel told MyBroadband that the Spectra brand had seen promising uptake in South Africa since it launched. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In that case, Akoojee specifically highlighted the Spectra J2 Pro, which has a recommended retail price of R1,499.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Spectra is focused on delivering high-end features \u2014 including a 50MP camera, 128GB memory, and trend-setting designs \u2014 bringing premium innovation and style to the market,” Akoojee said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Consumer acceptance has been exceptional, and the brand has been making waves across all our retail partners.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Positive response from partners<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mobicel smartphones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While not specific to the Spectra brand, as it is relatively new to the market, mobile networks and retailers have been generally positive<\/a> about Mobicel’s sales performance in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN South Africa recently told MyBroadband that Mobicel phones had played an important role in its entry-level portfolio in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The network operator said Mobicel’s sales were “relatively stable” while reflecting broader market dynamics in the entry-level smartphone segment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These dynamics included increased competition from other players in the space and shifting customer preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In 2025, customers increasingly sought devices with stronger performance capabilities, larger storage, improved cameras, and longer battery life,” MTN South Africa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a result, brands that refreshed their portfolios more frequently and offered higher specifications at competitive price points saw stronger uptake across the market.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MTN said Mobicel’s biggest seller through its channels in 2025 was the F51, an entry-level 4G smartphone with a 5.0-inch display, 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and a 2,000mAh battery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepkor, which claims to account for eight in every 10 phone sales in South Africa, also said Mobicel was among its top five suppliers by units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it noted that sales had declined, which it said was due to several factors, including increased competition from its own Stylo brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another factor was mobile networks shifting subsidies to other brands. “At these entry-level price points, subsidies are critical for sales,” Pepkor stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Tier-two brands struggle to gain market share because they lack Samsung’s marketing budget, forcing them to compete on price alone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It added that this challenge also affected Chinese brands such as Oppo and Vivo in South Africa, and was not specific to local brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vodacom told MyBroadband that it could not disclose sales performance due to the competitive and commercially sensitive nature of the telecoms sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“However, we can confirm that the Mobicel devices have resonated well with the targeted customer segment,” it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mobicel told MyBroadband its sub-brand Spectra was seeing traction among consumers and retailers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":650918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17934],"tags":[49955,29674,105621,105620,42,4278,22261,70830,95681,52825,105623,105622,102321,105610,41,102320],"class_list":["post-650891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-smartphones","tag-budget-smartphones","tag-mobicel","tag-mobicel-f51","tag-mobicel-spectra","tag-mtn","tag-pep","tag-pep-cell","tag-pepkor","tag-ridhwan-khan","tag-smartphone-manufacturers","tag-south-african-smartphone-brands","tag-south-african-smartphone-manufacturers","tag-spectra","tag-spectra-j3","tag-vodacom","tag-yusuf-akoojee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650891"}],"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=650891"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":651506,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/650891\/revisions\/651506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/650918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=650891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=650891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=650891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}