Smartphone vendors fight for Zimbabwe market

As the telecommunications market in sub-Saharan Africa continues to grow at a faster rate than any other region in the world, smartphone vendors on the local market, including globally renowned brands, have become locked in a vicious scrum to gain a stranglehold on the local market share for both the low-end and high-end market.
 
The consumer charm offensive by companies such as Samsung, Huawei, ZTE Corporation, Gtel and Astro (formerly GMobile), buoyed by rising consumer appetite for smartphones and the improved availability of the gadgets, has raised expectations consumers and retailers will ultimately benefit.

Government interventions such as the waiver of duty on information communication technology (ICT) equipment, and increased investments by local mobile operators ' Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ), Telecel and NetOne ' after 2009, have helped drive consumer appetite and investor interest.

Unsurprisingly, over the last four years, market penetration in the mobile sector has since climbed from nine percent in 2009 to the current 98 percent, while the Internet usage rate on mobile devices has risen from eight percent to 47 percent.

Naturally, the high intake of emerging technologies has not escaped the interest of local and international brands, especially Asian firms that have become dominant on the smart-phone market.

But what has made the local market even more fertile for the manufacturers is the shift by consumers from SMS and voice services to cheaper broadband-based applications.

There was heightened activity by companies in November as they tried to win over the market with new products ahead of the busy festive season when consumer spending usually rises.

China-based Huawei, which is considered as the largest telecommunications equipment manufacturer in the world, on November 1, 2013 launched a wide range of phones such as the Ascend P6, Ascend Mate, Ascend G510, Huawei tablets and a support centre as well.

The Ascend P6 at 6,18 mm is regarded as the slimmest smartphone in the world.

Currently, Huawei is the third largest manufacturer in the world and sold more than 16 million units last year.

It hopes that its alliance with Econet, the largest local mobile operator by market value and subscribers, will be able to unlock value from the company's service ecosystem.

On the other hand, Econet seeks to leverage on its growing subscriber base.

In its financials for the half year ended August 31, EWZ indicated that its investment, especially in fibre optic infrastructure, had created a platform for solid growth.

"We are sourcing and distributing data devices to meet the needs of customers at all levels. Entry-level devices up to high-end devices have been bundled with data, voice and SMS to stimulate data usage.

"Smartphone bundles have been introduced whereby credit is offered to subscribers, via a Steward Bank facility, to allow them to buy handsets."

Steward Bank is owned by Econet.
The same model is also being used by Gtel, formerly GTiDE Technology, which apparently launched its own smartphone brand, the A717 Explorer, four days after Huawei (November 5, 2013).

GTide, whose full name is Shenzhen GTiDE Technology Co Ltd, is also a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer.

Gtel, which has a strong working relationship with Zimbabwe's third largest mobile phone operator NetOne, has launched other smartphones as well, including its version of a phablet, the Gtel A7000X2.

Much of its products though seem to be targeted at the low-end of the smartphone market.

Again, another Shenzhen firm ZTE Corporation - the world's fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer by 2012 sales - joined the fray last month by launching its own brands such as the ZTE Nubia and Z5, including the O3 Nubia.

As part of its stated plans to capture at least 80 percent of the market, ZTE has since expressed its intention to leverage on the operations of all the local mobile operators ' Telecel, NetOne, Powertel and Africom.

On the overall, the firm intends to flood the market over the next five years.

Astro is the only local brand that is trying to find space in a heavily contested market.

Controlled by Bethel Communications, a company owned by Mr Munyaradzi Gwatidzo, the former chief executive officer of the then GTide Zimbabwe, Astro is also deliberately targeting the mid and bottom rungs of the market, though it seems to be emphasizing on selling custom-made applications.

However, South Korean-based Samsung, which over the past couple of years has managed to wrest the global smartphone market from Steve Jobs' Apple empire, has not made significant launches this year.

Instead, the local arm of the biggest smartphone brand managed to sign an agreement with a local firm with local firm Line Products and Services on November 21 for the distribution of Samsung's Solar Power Internet School, Smart School Solutions, Solar Powered Health Centres and other e-government solutions.

The company last had a product launch in Zimbabwe on July 12 last year when it introduced the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the best-selling smartphone brand in the world, according to global market watchers.

It is believed that there will be continued interest in the region as analysts remain bullish of future prospects.

Global research firm Analysys Mason opines that sub-Saharan Africa's telecoms market will continue to grow faster than any other region worldwide over the next five years.

Growth, expected to reach US$59 billion by 2018, is projected to be driven by handset data services, mobile broadband and fixed broadband.

Most notably, it is forecast that smartphones will account for 80 percent of active broadband connections by 2018 and 22 percent of handsets in the region overall.

Economists and researchers believe that the proliferation of mobile technologies generates positive economic spin-offs.

A study once commissioned by the GSM body established that an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people typically boosts GDP growth by 0,6 percent per annum in developing nations.