As South Africa's smartphone penetration continues to grow, smartphone maker Samsung has been named the favourite handset brand among urban consumers, a research report reveals.
The SA Consumer Digital Lifestyle Research Programme report was compiled by BMI-TechKnowledge, and shows 29% of research respondents selected Samsung when asked what handset they would choose in the future.
Other handset brands to top the list include BlackBerry (20%), Apple (16%) and Nokia (13%), which were ranked second, third and fourth respectively.
The BMI-T report is based on metropolitan surveys of 1 500 respondents, and provides research into PC, tablet, smartphone and Internet usage and activities, with an additional focus this year on video on-demand and fibre to the home.
The report also revealed instant messaging is the top application used, with WhatsApp and Facebook as the two most used downloaded applications across all segments.
Features considered the most important on current smartphones are the operating system, followed by the storage space and then data connectivity, the report notes.
Meanwhile, the most important features on a non-smartphone cellphone were long battery life, camera functionality and Internet connectivity.
BMI-T's report forecasts the country's smartphone penetration rate will reach more than 83% of the population (over 16 years old) by 2019 after crossing the 50% mark in 2015
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