Finnish cellphone brand Nokia says Africa is still a big market for its feature phone segment and it is investing heavily in migrating some customers to its 4G-enabled “smarter feature phones”.
During a recent webinar, HMD Global, which operates the Nokia mobile phone business, noted it still sees huge opportunity in SA’s feature phone market.
The company said it’s shifting focus to upgrade a large number of feature phone customers to what it calls “entry-level smartphones” – which run on 4G networks and are made available at more affordable prices than mainstream smartphones.
Smart feature phones, which support social media and instant messaging apps, are increasingly playing a crucial role in providing connectivity as more African users upgrade from basic feature phones with no internet access.
During the webinar, Florian Seiche, CEO of HMD Global, announced three new feature phones – two feature phones and one smart feature phone – which he said have Nokia’s legacy of durability and long battery life.
The feature phones are:
- Nokia 8210 4G:A 1990s icon, with 4G and intuitive user interface.
- Nokia 2660 Flip:A flip phone with a 32GB microSD card and Bluetooth 5.0.
- Nokia 5710 XpressAudio:Comes with in-built wireless earbuds and runs on an in-house S30+ OS, with 128MB of RAM.
The latest portfolio additions, Seiche noted, reaffirm HMD Global’s commitment to ensuring everyone has access to affordable and long-lasting technology, as consumers increasingly feel the pinch of inflation.
In Africa, the feature phone is still the mobile phone of choice, making up more than half of the user base, amid a strong need for essential communication, he added.
“We are still seeing strong demand for feature phones in South Africa and Africa, and our strategy is two-fold. Our position is to provide customers with fantastic quality at an affordable price.
“We are also working with our carrier customers across Africa, and specifically in South Africa, to bring the feature phone customer base to the 4G network as fast as possible. And because we have a large base of feature phone customers, we want to continue serving them with our good quality feature phones, and at the same time we are looking forward to bringing a bigger percentage of them to the 4G smartphone range with our C series.”
According to a report by research firm IDC, Nokia continued to have a strong sales trajectory in Q1 2022, and became the second top feature phone vendor after iTel. However, it notes feature phone shipments were down 26.6% to 21.9 million units as a result of vendors transitioning away from these devices toward entry-level smartphones.
The Nokia 8210 4G, according to the company, is targeted at feature phone customers who are ready to be upgraded to an entry-level smartphone without having to carry the costs of a fully-fledged smartphone.
The new phone is the latest iteration of the iconic Nokia 8210 launched in 1999 at Paris Fashion Week. Inspired by the classic feature phone, it combines its traditional design and signature durability with connectivity, VoLTE capability, a 2.8-inch display and weeks of standby battery “like the good old days”, says HMD.
Also speaking at the webinar, Shaun Durandt, GM of HMD Global Sub-Saharan Africa, pointed out the company is looking at increasing its portfolio of 4G-enabled feature phones.
“Feature phones are massively important for us in South Africa, and the 105 is our bread-and-butter, so that’s where we are focusing on,” explained Durandt.
“South Africa as a market is guided by operator behaviour – and our many feature phone users are going to be entry-level smart phone users. From a brand perspective, we want to make sure we are front-and-centre of that decision-making process, and a very big part of our strategy going forward into 2023 is how that migration from 2G into 4G becomes real through the offering we provide.”
HMD also announced its second tablet device, the Nokia T10 – an 8-inch device with the latest Android 12 software and Google Entertainment Space.
Local pricing will be shared at a later stage, says HMD.
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