Locally developed feature phone social networking app, 2go, is now available for Android on the Google Play Store.
2go says it has scaled to over 10 million active users with only four developers and has been actively recruiting developer talent over the past six months to help accelerate it into the smartphone market.
In Nigeria, where 2go is the largest social network, feature phones still dominate with around 88% market share, although Android is growing increasingly important, the company says.
However, according to a study by local market research firm World Wide Worx regarding social networking and instant messaging, 2go has a 5% market share in SA while Facebook leads the market with 38%. 2go also trails platforms like WhatsApp (26%), Mxit (23%), BBM (17%), Twitter (12%) and Google Talk (9%). Nonetheless, 2go is on top of Skype, which has a 1% market share, according to World Wide Worx.
"Android is the fastest-growing mobile platform across Africa, and with sub-$50 Androiddevices on the horizon; 2go's mostly feature phone user base can now migrate with 2go as they move to smartphones," says Alan Wolff, who founded 2go with Ashley Peter while still at university in Johannesburg in 2007.
According to Brad Taylor, MD of GfK South Africa, Android phones now represent 5.2% of current monthly phone sales in Nigeria, up from 3.4% in September 2012. Taylor notes that this trend is accelerating across Africa. "In Kenya, which is a more mature Android market, 52% of monthly sales are Android phones," Taylor adds.
"We wanted to make sure that the first version of 2go for Android met the high expectations of our passionate user base," says Wolff when asked why the market has waited so long for an Android version of 2go.
"The team spent a long time refining the product to ensure it matches, and hopefully surpasses, the high-quality, intuitive user experience of the feature phone version of 2go. We wanted to maintain the same fun, social experience, but also create a beautiful product that looks, feels and behaves like a smartphone app," says Peter.
2go for Android now includes push notifications and a sleek user interface, which is intuitive and easy to use.
"Version 1 of 2go for Androidis a good first step and we have received great feedback from users. But you can expect much more from us in the next few months as we refine the app and add functionality," adds Peter. "This is just the beginning for 2go on smartphones."
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