A recent report by a South African market research company illustrates SA's idiosyncratic market in terms of cellphone brand loyalty.
SA's mobile market is alive with growth and, with just 18% of South Africans being without cellphones, there is only a marginal part of the market left to reach.
This, says Analytix Business Intelligence (Analytix BI), is why key players are going to have to start playing a new ballgame - “enticing brand-loyal South Africans into new territories”.
Analytix BI's latest report, “SA Country Report - Cellphone/Mobile Market”, outlines market trends and user forecasts in the context of SA and its key players.
Compiled this month, the report shows South Africans have by and large stayed true to Canadian firm Research In Motion's (RIM's) BlackBerry smartphones - whereas, in international markets, the brand is increasingly being shunned in favour of Apple, Microsoft and Android devices.
According to Analytix BI, RIM has not fully taken stock of the need to explore alternative digital products, such as tablet PCs, new operating systems and peripheral devices - which has “proven to be [its] downfall”.
RIM reported a second quarter loss of 33% in revenue (to $518 million or R4.2 billion) in early July. This, Analytix BI points out, is in stark contrast to Apple and Samsung - which have recorded prodigious growth figures. Samsung overtook Apple as the world's number one handset producer in the second quarter of this year - for the first time.
Silver lining
This puts the annual growth rate of BlackBerry at about 43% in SA, a market Analytix BI says is “certainly still an emerging market” for the likes of RIM. The latest figures estimate there are over 2.5 million BlackBerrys in SA.
“It is evident that BlackBerry is becoming increasingly more sought-after in local stores, due to the way that their product incorporates data into its pricing structures. It was also named the 'coolest brand overall' for the second time in [a Sunday Times survey] and was listed as the 'coolest cellphone' and 'coolest hi-tech gadget' for the second year running,” says Analytix BI.
The South African market is composed somewhat differently to the rest of the globe, says Analytix BI. There are more than eight million smartphones in SA - 20% of all mobile phones in the country. According to the report, there are about 2.5 million BlackBerrys, two million Android devices and around 300 000 Apple iPhones.
“One of the major influencing factors has been the cost and pricing structures surrounding the handsets and their data usage. Vodacom and Cell C have recently launched cost-effective scaled down Blackberry packages, which limits the user to one e-mail address, but still includes all the other standard BlackBerry features, from as little as R27 per month. BlackBerrys have also been put on the market in affordable prepaid packages, which reaches the lower end of the market.”
Market meander
The report further reveals that Samsung's brand, despite its strong growth until 2010, and then a slight decline in 2011 to 22%, has not reached the same heights in SA as the rest of the world, where it has taken pole position in terms of international market share.
Nokia still dominates the South African market, with a 56% share. According to Analytix BI, this has remained fairly consistent since 2007. “Nokia has seen very little trouble in the last five years and has a cemented position in the South African market. This is again in contrast to the rest of the world, where Nokia has been starting to struggle of late, and are negotiating strategic product plans with Microsoft, in order to safeguard their future.”
According to AMPS 2011(B) data, there were approximately 49 000 Apple iPhones in SA. By mid-2012, the estimates record that there are roughly 300 000 iPhones circulating the market. “This phenomenal growth is in line with the popularity of the Apple market abroad; however, Apple are still to make a notable dent in the handset market locally.”
Last (and least), reveals the report, is Motorola. The cellphone brand has fared the worst, having dropped in proportion of usage from 21% in 2007 to 3% in 2011. Analytix BI points out that Motorola is the one firm that has followed its parent company trend, “as the mobile phone marker has silently slipped off the map in the past five years internationally”. Motorola no longer features as one of the top six handset makers in the world - evident, too, in SA.
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