Rwanda’s vision of becoming a regional ICT hub has been boosted by a revelation that a local company, A-Link Technologies, has started assembling Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) television sets.

A-Link a Chinese owned firm said recently that it would be diversifying its product line to include television assembling in order to redeem its declining mobile phone sales.

The company management said that the mobile phone market has greatly declined owing to the availability of cheap and promotional handsets offered by telecom companies.

The company’s Chief Executive Office, Edward Yin said that the market status and government’s slashing of duties on handsets has forced output to drop by 50 percent.

"We have now decided to venture into assembling flat screens along mobile phones in order to keep in business,” he said.

The company affiliated to China Link, Digital and Technology Company Limited has assembled four TV sets awaiting more orders to rollout massive output.

The TV’s size ranges between 22 to 42 inches and branded ‘A-Link’.

"We are targeting electronic dealers for massive supplies. The market will also determine the price,” he revealed.
Meanwhile, A-Link Technologies has also started assembling dual SIM card phones in order to maintain its composure in the market.

Yin said that eight dual SIM card models have been assembled with the cheapest going for Rwf19,900.

A-Link Technologies started its operation last year with an initial investment of $0.5 million (Rwf285 million).

A-Link was behind the development of the mobile phone programmed in Kinyarwanda branded ‘Alira’. The brand name was earlier this year changed to ‘A-Link’.

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