Sun King Mombasa Sun King moves from solar to smartphones Sun King, the company you probably know for yellow solar lanterns and pay-as-you-go home power, has officially launched its first smartphone in Kenya, shaking up the mobile market. The EZ 1 is the company’s own brand of entry-level phone, and it’s being built locally at Sun King’s new manufacturing facility in Nairobi, part of a big push to make devices more accessible and grow local tech production. The twist isn’t really the hardware. The EZ 1 looks like many basic Android phones with 4 GB RAM, 128 GB storage, a 6.56-inch display, and a big 5000 mAh battery. What then is? How Sun King is selling it. Kenyans can get the phone with a KSh 2,999 deposit and KSh 60 daily payments through the same “lipa pole pole” pay-as-you-go model that has helped hundreds of thousands afford solar kits. Why should you care? Because high upfront costs still keep many people out of the digital economy in Kenya. Smartphones are essential for communication, mobile money, education, and small businesses, but imported devices often cost more than some households can manage. Sun King’s model makes ownership feel affordable day-to-day, even if the total cost over time could be higher than buying a cheap phone outright. There’s also broader context: Kenya’s local phone assembly scene has been growing, with companies like M-Kopa assembling millions of devices locally, though import competition and grey-market phones still dominate the market and complicate the economics for homegrown makers. Sun King’s move is part of this trend, using industrialisation and financing to tackle digital exclusion, even as consumer perceptions and quality concerns around locally assembled phones linger. But it’s not all sunshine. Word on the street is pointing to the “poverty penalty” — paying over time, can mean you end up spending far more than the cash price if you had the money upfront, and entry-level specs won’t always keep up long term. Still, for many Kenyans priced out of the smartphone market, the EZ 1 could be the ticket to staying connected and earning a living, and that’s why this launch matters. Figure of the day Brought to you by 80.8% The rate of smartphone penetration in Kenya, representing over 42.3 million smartphones actively connected to networks as of mid-2025. Contact Intelpoint for industry reports, market research, and consultancy here.
Sun King, widely known across Africa for its yellow solar lanterns and pay-as-you-go home power systems, has officially entered the...