How about having a smartphone that fits all your specification needs? From memory, screen size, battery capacity, and it all! Pixan Inc, a Kampala-based mobile phone maker and tech company, is launching what is likely to be Africa’s first mobile phone mass customization program using its Pixan M8 CE smartphone.
The Pixan M8 CE runs on Android and is designed and manufactured by Ugandan developers at Pixan under the stewardship of Mr Edgar Ofoyuru, the Chief Executive.
Mass customization in modern business is looked at as a ‘new frontier in business for both manufacturing and service industries’ and by taking this course, Pixan Inc believes will be able to mass-produce smartphones that meet customers’ needs.
Mr Ofoyuru explained that the mass customization program at Pixan Inc will see targeted customer groups order smartphones with specifications that meet their needs.
“Customers, especially large corporations, government agencies, civil society and organizations with a sizeable workforce, when preordering will be able to tell us what to and not include in the smartphones they are buying. Instead of putting a phone on the market with specifications and abilities we think the customers need, we want customers to tell us what they need in a phone so that we can manufacture exactly that.”
Pixan Inc are putting their first locally made smartphone, the Pixan M8 CE, and a host of other phone accessories like Earphones, Headphones, Cables and Powerbanks that are now available for purchase on their e-commerce portal.
According to Mr Ofoyuru, customized smartphones help companies and organizations to manage their systems better, communicate effortlessly and effectively and simplifies work. He says they can have customized apps installed in the phone during manufacturing, have old systems upgraded and have developers develop systems in the phone that suit their work. Everybody will make their own phone.
With great design, clear display, and a superior performance, a customer can make a Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) of 350 phones which is an industry-standard. The asking price for each piece, at the moment, is UGX 480,000 but depending on the demanded specifications, the price can go up as the phone is improved and fitted with more technology.
How to order for a customized smartphone from Pixan
Pixan Inc has made it easy to buy the phone on their online shop, where you can freely choose the option of buying an Android mass-customized Pixan M8 CE phone and follow easy to use prompts on the web portal.
The phone comes in white with gold trim colour but other options can be provided on request and RAM size options of 2GB and 4GB. It also has storage capacities of 8GB, 16GB and 32GB. The camera options are 4MP, 8MP and 16MP. Each option you make reflects on the pricing.
The Pixan M8 CE is a fancy smartphone made by Ugandan developers who in their research and development had the Ugandan user in mind. Its hardware material is made accustomed for Ugandan conditions just like the software inside.
And unlike the hardware and its entire casing, the customer can choose which RAM to buy and what storage capacity or camera abilities to come with the phone. These are decisions customers make when pre-ordering.
“Once the order has been placed, a prototype is delivered to the customer by Pixan Inc to ascertain that what is being manufactured is what the client ordered. If there are any differences from what was ordered, this is corrected,” Mr Ofoyuru says.
