Device wars

The tablet has taken the market by storm, and its popularity is growing faster than even the smartphone market did in its early stages. Now that all the major players have their offerings in the market, adoption trends seem to indicate that it will be the operating platform that will dictate the success of the device.

Or will it?

Keith Jones, Director of Strategic Business Development for Unison, believes there is another critical element to consider in the local market: understanding the 'African Factor'.

A case in point is Mxit. With 50 million African users compared to Facebook's 48 million, it's proving that nailing the local context may be just the competitive edge needed to capture and hold the lion's share of the African market. "The ability to take into account local drivers and inhibitors, and ensure that offerings are relevant and accessible, will be particularly significant for this sector," explains Jones.

Africa is coming off a low IT base with a weak infrastructure and unreliable and often inadequate connectivity. Socio-economic factors translate into a market that is highly price-sensitive, with a significant portion still computer illiterate. Yet the continent is hungry for technology, and according to Jones, the tablet has the definite inside edge.

"In well-established Western markets, the tablet is an 'and' device. Users still have their fully functioning smartphones and laptops. Some luddites still even cling to their PCs. In Africa, the picture is very different. Feature phones dominate here and the tablet is likely to become 'the' smart device," predicts Jones. "Portability, low power needs, ease-of-use and low cost of software make it the killer tech for Africa. It will explode."

The question remains: who will claim the market?

"While Apple is the clear market leader, it's still a luxury consumer brand. Its price and closed operating platform is likely to knock it out of the running," says Jones. "Microsoft is unlikely to pursue the commodity market. Its Surface product is a latecomer to the field and will probably be wrapped with software licensing constraints that are limiting in the open market. This leaves big brand players like Samsung and Google to battle it out for dominance in the device race. From a platform point of view, if one rules out iOS and Microsoft for similar reasons, this leaves Android at the top of the log," says Jones.

"Considering the cost sensitivity at play, the device market will likely be led by the Clones. These use the same components as the mainstream players, but don't have the burden of massive brand costs. While a market driven by Android and the Clones sounds suspiciously like a sci-fi movie, it is closer to reality than one would think. Shifts in the world market indicate that the most disruptive technologies look set to come from within emerging markets such as ours."

The East will be providing some very interesting commoditising factors of its own. "The Aakash 2 is an Android-powered tablet from India retailing for around $20; Aliyun, a rival OS to Google's Android, has already captured a million users," confirms Jones. "While the Aakash 2 is unlikely to meet the needs of the general populace, it certainly shows what can be done at this price point. With the fully functioning micro-PC, Raspberry Pi, coming out between $25 and $35, there is no reason not to expect a consumer tablet retailing in Africa around the $60 mark."

Products like Mxit, Ushahidi and M-Pesa all indicate that the collaboration platform could be homegrown - precisely what it will be has yet to be revealed. With 167 million Internet users representing a mere 15% penetration of the population, there is some pretty incredible room for growth.

So who will emerge victorious? While the field remains wide open, the odds-on favourite looks to be an Android-derivative OS, a generic device from the East and a local collaboration platform.

The good news is that Africa will be the winner on all fronts, poised to become a global market in the mobile computing sector and capable of taking its place on the world stage.