Tebeila ready for mobile hard knocks
ASTUTE business tycoon Tim Tebeila has ventured into the mobile device manufacturing industry with a bang.
Tebeila, whose company Sekoko Holdings made him a fortune in the mining, insurance and construction fraternities, has manufactured an android-powered smartphone called Sekoko K26. He is now on the verge of manufacturing laptops and tablets.
Sekoko K26, which is set to take the industry by storm, is manufactured by Sekoko Holding s mobile devices wing Sekoko Mobile and its technical partner Making Mobile.
Tebeila said although the industry was uncharted waters for him, he would use his business acumen as tailwind to achieve success.
We have worked hard and moved quickly to turn this dream into a reality. Today marks an important milestone as the pieces start to fall into place, not only for Sekoko in South Africa, but for the whole technology industry, which is receiving a muchneeded boost towards industrialisation and the development of this industry.
We are committed to setting the bar high, and establishing world-class, best practices in South Africa that every other industrialists will have to be judged by. This is a major milestone for us and marks another first in the evolution of our company.”
Tebeila said the devices will in future be manufactured at a high- tech facility to be built in Robertsham, southern Joburg.
Making Mobile managing director Daryl Peel explains: The facility will be a 24/7 operation with an initial production target of 700 to 750 handsets per day with a staff compliment of 50 employees per shift. Sekoko mobile and its partners have invested R15-million for the setup of the plant with total investments rising to R50-million in the first six months of operations and total investments over the first year estimated to rise to R75-million in direct investments.
In addition to this investment, we expect to create at least 150 direct jobs and a further 180 indirect jobs as more than 60% of all raw materials and finished products that go into fulfilling a handset for market readiness will be sourced in South Africa. These will include items such as the printing and packaging, software security, logistics and security to name but a few.
Sekoko will also concentrate on producing three devices; a 5-inch mid-spec 3G phone, a 5-inch midspec LTE device, and a 7-inch 3G tablet.
Tebeila said the devices, which has dual SIM cards capability, would be sold throughout the continent.