Sun King is taking its pay-as-you-go financing model beyond solar products and deeper into Kenya’s smartphone market, putting it in direct competition with established players such as M-KOPA. The move highlights a broader shift in African consumer finance, where smartphones are increasingly being treated not simply as devices, but as gateways to the digital economy.
The company entered Kenya’s smartphone market earlier in 2026 with the EZ 1, its first Sun King-branded handset. It has now expanded the range with the EZ 3 and EZ 3 Pro, giving customers more options while lowering the cost of entry. The EZ 3 starts at KES 55 per day with a KES 2,299 deposit, while the Pro version starts at KES 65 per day with a KES 3,099 deposit.
The strategy builds on infrastructure Sun King has spent years developing across Kenya. The company has traditionally financed solar home systems through small, regular payments, allowing customers who cannot afford an upfront purchase to spread the cost over time. Its smartphone business applies the same principle to a product that has become increasingly essential for communication, commerce, financial services and work.
That puts Sun King into one of Kenya’s most competitive device-financing markets. M-KOPA has already built a large customer base around smartphone financing, using small deposits and regular payments to make devices accessible to consumers with irregular or limited incomes. The company said in July that it had reached 10 million customers across five African markets, with smartphone financing driving much of its recent growth.
Sun King’s advantage is its existing distribution network and experience serving customers through pay-as-you-go financing. Rather than building an entirely new lending infrastructure, the company can adapt systems and customer relationships developed through its solar business.
The opportunity is significant because the upfront cost of smartphones remains a barrier for many consumers. Yet owning a smartphone increasingly determines whether people can access mobile banking, online marketplaces, digital education, social platforms and income-generating opportunities.
The competition could therefore extend beyond the price of the devices themselves. Financing terms, repayment flexibility, distribution reach, customer support and additional services could become important differentiators.
M-KOPA has already demonstrated how a financed smartphone can become the starting point for a broader financial relationship. Its platform connects smartphone ownership with services including digital loans, health cover, device protection and affordable data.
For Sun King, smartphones could similarly become a new entry point into consumers’ financial lives while diversifying its business beyond solar energy.
The bigger significance is that companies are increasingly using financing technology to make essential consumer products affordable without requiring customers to pay the full price upfront. Kenya, with its mature mobile-money ecosystem and strong appetite for digital services, provides a natural testing ground.
Sun King’s expansion consequently signals more than a new smartphone launch. It shows how Africa’s pay-as-you-go economy is evolving, with companies using existing financing infrastructure to bring more digital products within reach of consumers. As Sun King challenges M-KOPA, Kenya’s smartphone market could become another important battleground in the race to finance Africa’s next billion digital users.
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