Top Selling Gadgets In Nigeria This Season

A little over a decade ago, land phones and mobiles (or nought-nine-nought) were exclusive to the top class of Nigeria’s society. Put simply, the presence of a landline in a household represented affluence and cellphones were the private jets of this age. But with the advent of GSM technology in 2001, mobile telephony gradually became easily accessible, even to people living in the remotest part of Nigeria.

Between 2009 – 2010, the smartphone trend, which was also exclusive to a certain class of the country’s over 170 million population, surfaced. However, when Chinese phone maker Tecno ventured into the Nigerian market it presented a opportunity for Nigeria’s fast-rising middle class to access services available on smartphones. Other phone makers, i.e. Solo Phone, soon followed suit, providing cheap, yet standard services on affordable smartphonesto all who move with the trend of new gadgets in the country’s increasingly demanding and tech-savvy population.

In 2013, the “gadget boom” continued with the launch of a series of eye-catching phones, tablets, and gadgets and stiff competition for market share between major phone makers, i.e. Samsung, Apple, Tecno and Blackberry (Yes, Blackberry still accounts for a significant percentage of the market share in Nigeria), while mobile penetration experienced a surge across the Africa. Thus, consumers have benefited from innovative competition between phone makers, with citizens now afforded the luxury to select from a wider range of products.

During this festive season, our team scanned through the retail markets to spot a few of the top selling devices

source: www.ventures-africa.com

Samsung Ghana launches festive promotion

Samsung Ghana has announced one of its loyalty promotions to reward customers this festive season.

The nationwide promotion will reward 50 lucky winners each week with Samsung’s range of consumer electronics, Smartphones and an all expenses paid trip to South Africa, for 6 lucky monthly winners.

Speaking on the rationale behind the promotion, the Business Leader for Handheld Products at Samsung Electronics West Africa, Jaspreet Singh said: “At Samsung we don’t just create innovative products; we create platforms to enable people to express themselves through our cutting edge technology and products,

“We believe this new campaign will strengthen our commitment to give back to Ghanaians and to express our gratitude to our cherished customers as we reward them with exciting prizes each week, including an all expense paid trip to South Africa to give them a perfect holiday experience.”

Jaspreet added: “The next few weeks will see exciting Samsung products such as LED TVs, Home Theatres, Galaxy Tabs and more fantastic prizes being won every week. There will be two monthly draws which will reward 6 lucky winners in with 3 being rewarded each month. The 6 grand draw winners would go ahead to grab the ultimate prize to enjoy the perfect holiday through an all expense trip to South Africa.”

Jaspreet further called on all Ghanaians to make Samsung apart of their holiday with Samsung’s array of smart innovative phones. He also thanked Ghanaians for their support and loyalty throughout the entire year and wished them a happy holiday.

source: www.biztechafrica.com

Qualcomm cooperates with Egyptian mobile operators

Qualcomm, provider of the processors for many notable mobile brands, tablets and smart-devices as well as developer of internet wireless network in Egypt, attended the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) conference to launch their latest project and showcase their support for the Egyptian technology and communication industry.

The Daily News Egypt spoke with Moheb Ramsis Senior Director of Business Development for Qualcomm in North Africa in order  to discuss Qualcomm’s latest projects in Egypt, their cooperation with mobile operators as well as plans for investment in the future.

Our strategy in Egypt is focused on a variety of things. Qualcomm in has a major interest in two particular things. One is the processors and this is the main business for Qualcomm. Many of the mobiles today are using Qualcomm chips.

Secondly we focus on licensing, for the 3G and 4G technology.  We played a key role in the development of the 3G and 4G networks and as a result earn royalties on these licenses. This is a major revenue stream for Qualcomm.

Egypt specifically is a market that is very price and brand sensitive. At the high-tier of smartphones today, most of the big names are using our chips. These include Samsung, LG, HTC and Song. We are focusing on Smartphones and tablets, which are connected to Egyptian 3G networks. Our strategy has two main focuses. The first strategy is concerned with enabling and empowering more entry level Smartphones, using the 3G network. This is done through the marketing of popular brands to the user. In this effort we are attempting to bring Smartphones to the lowest price possible while maintaining quality.

For example Etisalat recently released a tablet which uses a Qualcomm processor and which draws on a “Qualcomm reference design”. Which is the name of our initiative and it basically concerns selling supplier the chips cells and designs which will save the supplier money, time and resources. Allowing manufacturers to develop design and focus more on user interface and differentiating their technologies. This allows manufacturers to develop products of optimal quality and price.

source: www.dailynewsegypt.com

samsung comercializa el 50% de los mobiles in AFrica

El despliegue y las inversiones ya están hechas. Con la popularidad de los teléfonos inteligentes al alza, los fabricantes se preparan para hacerse con un pedazo de tarta del continente. Samsung, que ya vende la mitad de los teléfonos inteligentes en el país -20 millones este año- espera doblar el número en 2014 y “crecer sustancialmente” en próximos ejercicios.

Ese crecimiento sustancial al que hace referencia en unas declaraciones a Reuters Thabiet Allie, portavoz de la compañía en el mercado africano, irá en paralelo a lacomercialización de dispositivos con precios inferiores a los 50 dólares.

Según datos de 2012 la GSMA, gigante que aglutina operadores móviles y compañías relacionadas, entre 2006 y 2011, los operadores móviles invirtieron 16.500 millones de dólares en los 5 principales mercados africanos: Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria y Sudáfrica.

Entre 2007 y 2012 el número de estaciones base en estos países creció un 250% -se incluye en este dato a Tanzania-.

Los jugadores que operan en el mercado móvil africano son France Telecom, la operadora de los Emiratos Etisalat, la africana Vodacom y la subsidiaria india Airtel, según el informe.

En 2012 un total de 31 países del continente africano tenían ya redes 3G. Cuatro

source: siliconnews.com

Motorola unveils 'affoadable' moto G

 Google-owned Motorola Mobility on Wednesday unveiled the Moto G, aimed at the half-billion consumers around the world, many in emerging markets, who want a smartphone without a high price tag.

The new handset will sell at less than $200 without a contract in the US market and, around the world, will be around one-third the price of top-line Apple iPhones and Samsung devices.

Unveiling the phone in the Brazilian business hub Sao Paulo. Motorola chief Dennis Woodside said: "Half a billion people will buy a phone for under $200.

"Moto G is a smartphone that delivers a premium experience with today's technology at less than one-third of the price of today's smartphones like the iPhone 5s," he said.

The new device is a low-cost version of the Moto X released earlier this year in the United States.

It features a 11.5cm display and all-day battery, and will include the latest versions of the Google Android operating system.

Motorola hosted the launch after Britain's Tesco supermarket chain and Germany's Phone House listed it in their catalogues.

Woodside said the phone would be especially attractive in emerging markets where carrier subsidies for phones are rare and consumers are reluctant to pay $600 or more for a handset.

"Our industry forced consumers to make a choice between two very bad options," he said.

"The first option is to buy an old technology that doesn't work well with applications like Google maps... the second option is to buy an old premium phone that was typically released in the US two or three years ago. We think the industry should deliver more value for the consumer's dolar.

The handset packs in a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 5-megapixel and 1.3-megapixel cameras front and rear.

source: www. news24.com