First locally produced smartphone to be in November

SICO is set to start producing the first Egyptian-made smartphone in November, reports Al Mal. The company, which partnered with China’s Megane on the venture, should be receiving the equipment it needs to start moving the assembly lines by mid-October and hopes to kick things off with an annual production capacity of 1.8 mn devices a year. The USD 15 mn production facility will operate six assembly lines and is expecting to export roughly 65% of output to Eastern Europe and the Middle East. 4G devices will set consumers back around EGP 2,000.