Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

fastcompany.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 65 posts

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#11

Post by derekp7 »

holstvoogd wrote: post #7
incompatible wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They "manufacture the phones from the motherboards to the packaging" ... perhaps the case, motherboard, packaging, but still importing the components, in particular the system-on-a-chip and display? In that case, "made entirely" wouldn't be accurate.

Are there even any producers of low-level components & lcd displays outside China, Taiwan, Korea etc?

Wikipedia has a list of chip foundry plants, along with process size and production capacity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabricat...

In addition to the US, there are and several throughout Europe, Russia, and former Soviet countries. Plus many countries throughout Asia.

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#12

Post by aaron695 »

ekianjo wrote: post #2

They say they don't do just assembly but I guess they don't make their own chips either so what is the difference vs assembly?

The claim thrown around which the western news is repeating is all, including chips. Take that as you will.

"This is a manufacturing plant

The factory is a manufacturing plant, not an assembly station. The distinction is that Mara Phones produces its own chips and parts from over 1,000 tiny components to have a complete phone. Assembly plants, on the other hand, put together complete parts."

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/eight-things-know-about-mara...

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#13

Post by lonelappde »

ekianjo wrote: post #2

They say they don't do just assembly but I guess they don't make their own chips either so what is the difference vs assembly?

The best measure I know of this is -- cost of the final product minus cost of imported inputs, or that divided by cost of final product.

Ultimately what matters is things like how much value is created in the local economy (employment), and how independent they are from loss of their source of imports.

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#15

Post by giancarlostoro »

derekp7 wrote: post #11
holstvoogd wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are there even any producers of low-level components & lcd displays outside China, Taiwan, Korea etc?

Wikipedia has a list of chip foundry plants, along with process size and production capacity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_semiconductor_fabricat... In addition to the US, there are and several throughout Europe, Russia, and former Soviet countries. Plus many countries throughout Asia.

Great list. Also a reminder of why they call it Silicon Valley after all... Maybe Rwanda will push towards researching making their own chipset. ARM is kind of a spec and not some specific processor is how I have understood it. You take the spec and design your own processor from it.

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#16

Post by grecy »

I was in Rwanda this time last year. After visiting ~30 African countries by that point I can say that it's an extremely refreshing change.

There is a bustling tech sector in Kigali - they're making iPhone apps, designing and building hardware, etc. etc. There is a huge community of entrepreneurial younger people. People are extremely well educated, friendly and kind. I never saw a single piece of trash in the entire country.

I felt as safe riding moto taxis around in the dark in Kigali as I do in any Canadian city.

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#17

Post by xhruso00 »

demarq wrote: post #8
ekianjo wrote: post #2

They say they don't do just assembly but I guess they don't make their own chips either so what is the difference vs assembly?

To be honest, I think China is the only country that can fit the strict definition of "entirely" made in". So I'm happy enough to give credit to rwanda for assembling the motherboard component by component.

Raw materials are sourced in Africa -> Can't say made in cause those materials have to be harvested first

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#18

Post by phs318u »

mikkom wrote: post #14
lallysingh wrote: post #9

The phones look good (at least from the parts pictured). I wonder if they can bring a higher price than Chinese competitors with a design advantage.

IMHO The image looks rendered..

According to the website, you can order one now with a 3-5 day delivery (presumably more if destination is outside of Rwanda).

https://maraphones.com/product/mara-x/

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#19

Post by sgt »

grecy wrote: post #16

I was in Rwanda this time last year. After visiting ~30 African countries by that point I can say that it's an extremely refreshing change. There is a bustling tech sector in Kigali - they're making iPhone apps, designing and building hardware, etc. etc. There is a huge community of entrepreneurial younger people. People are extremely well educated, friendly and kind. I never saw a single piece of trash in the entire…

FYI for those unaware, grecy is the guy who recently completed a >50000 mile Africa expedition[1]. This guy knows Africa. It's nice to hear that Rwanda is doing well.

[1] http://theroadchoseme.com

Re: Rwanda just released the first smartphone made entirely in Africa

#20

Post by sgt »

ekianjo wrote: post #2

They say they don't do just assembly but I guess they don't make their own chips either so what is the difference vs assembly?

How about Android license? I assume they must be purchasing an Android license from Google in order to use the Play Store etc.
Post reply on HN