Entrepreneur Mpumelelo Mahlangu has developed, and is about to launch, what he believes is the first-ever entry level South African laptop.
The DTC400 is understood to be the first laptop launched by a South African township-based company and entrepreneur, competing with a wide range of budget entry-level laptop brands.
After Mahlangu completed matric he attended Tshwane North and then Unisa, but eventually dropped out to start a reptile rescue company and now Dot Connect, which has allowed him to create his first laptop.
DTC400 was born when the Covid-19 pandemic began and South Africa went on lockdown. With movements restricted and many people working and learning from home, Mahlangu saw a gap in the market and came up with a solution to create his own entry-level laptop that all consumers could afford.
“My inspiration came when I realised that with schools closing and thinking back to how I struggled to get through varsity without having my own laptop and having to depend on cafés and computer labs. A lot of students like myself are going to struggle even harder with now the school setting being changed,” Mahlangu says.
“The aim is to build an electronics brand that will be competitive against foreign-owned brands. We want to penetrate that market in terms of product quality, affordability and making sure this will increase job employment rate. We aim to continue manufacturing and servicing the laptop here in South African,” he says.
Mahlangu also plans to launch an initiative that will help young people in the township to diagnose and fix laptops.
The DTC400 offers 64Gb storage, a 128Gb dual hard drive, SSD port, 14-inch screen, 400mah Battery and 6Gb RAM. It will be available online for R4 999.00.
Mahlangu says he has applied for licensing from the Independent Communication Authority of SA.