Nairobi, Kenya, 19 May 2011
Huawei, a leader in providing innovative telecommunication solutions for operators around the world, has today announced that the Huawei IDEOS is the most popular smartphone in Kenya for the first quarter of 2011.
This is also according to a report by GFK Retail and Technology, one of the world's leading independent market researcher tracking sales data in technical consumer goods and entertainment in over 80 countries worldwide. The IDEOS was launched during the 2010 Christmas period with the phone gaining wide acceptance in the market.
Herman He, CEO of Huawei, announced: “Since the IDEOS launch five months ago, so far over 60 000 pieces have been sold and we are moving towards the 100 000 piece mark, with its share of the local smartphone market at 45% in the first quarter of the year, making it the top selling device - with February alone reaching 73%.
“We are delighted by IDEOS' outstanding performance and we hereby affirm our commitment to continue providing quality and affordable products to Kenyans,” He added.
He also said delivering connectivity for users thorough smart devices was one of Huawei's core objectives for 2011, with the IDEOS devices designed to provide smart and efficient connectivity to deliver a simple and premium end-user experience.
The success has partly been attributed to a strategic partnership with Safaricom as the main distributor and marketer of the smartphone, Google for their Android 2.2 platform, and QUALCOMM for the chipsets.
Safaricom Head of Retail Morris Maina said the partnership was a major win for Kenyan consumers, and presented a strategic fit for Safaricom in its quest to drive up data uptake by availing affordable Internet-enabled devices. The phone retails at KShs8 499, a KShs6 500 discount on its original price of KShs14 999. It also comes with free 600MB Safaricom data and Kshs1 000 worth of Safaricom airtime.
“Safaricom believes that innovations and value proposition will be key in winning consumers as the market becomes increasingly competitive. We are thus happy to be in a partnership that subscribes to these tenets and understands that affordability is key in a market like Kenya. The availability and increased take-up of this device opens a new world of immense possibilities to our subscribers and greatly increases the utility they can derive from our network, the only one with 3G capability in the market,” said Maina.
Information and Communication Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo noted that the mobile phone has permeated every sphere of life in Kenya. “In the beginning of the 21st century, the mobile telephone was the reserve of an elite few, and the gadget's sole purpose was to make phone calls and send text messages. Today, all this has changed and the mobile phone is no longer a luxury but a necessity,” said Dr Ndemo.
“By morphing and adopting into various aspects of our lives, the mobile phone has gone beyond its original purpose of phone calls and text messages and it now serves as a bank, a computer, a radio and a television set, among other things. In a nutshell, it has penetrated every aspect of our lives,” he added.
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