Korean smartphone maker, Samsung Electronics says Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country plays a critical role in its global business strategy. Emmanouil Revmatas, Business Head, Hand Held Products at Samsung Electronics West Africa, made this remark at the Samsung Africa Forum 2013 held in Cape Town, South Africa.
The sheer size of Nigeria’s handset market, according to him and the immense potentials there-in makes the country a strategic market for Samsung. Industry reports have shown that about 30 million smartphones will be sold in Nigeria between now and 2015.
Nigeria’s mobile market with over 100 million active subscriptions, Revmatas pointed out still had huge potential for growth. “More than 50 percent of Nigeria’s 167 million people have not yet joined the mobile revolution. We are witnessing a shift in the phone market. Nigerian consumers are moving from feature phones to smartphones. A lot of consumers in the country are moving from keypad to touchscreen. They are increasingly demanding for bigger screens. Our smartphone market share has quadrupled in the last 18 months. Samsung Africa’s strategy is not complete without Nigeria”, he added.
Meanwhile, Samsung has taken the wrapper off the much expected Galaxy S4 smartphone, which it bafflingly described as being “designed to get you closer to what matters in life and bring your world together”. Analysts told BusinessDay that the launch is a direct response to the new Blackberry 10 devices.
More sensibly, the smartphone comes with an expected 5-inch screen which is also the world’s first Full HD Super AMOLED display and comes with Corning’s new Gorilla Glass 3 for durability. Equipped with a 13 megapixel rear camera, the Galaxy S 4 also boasts a ‘Dual Camera’ function that allows simultaneous use of both front and rear cameras.
At the forum, the Korean firm showcased innovative consumer electronics. Samsung introduced the 85” inch Ultra High Definition (UHD) S9 Television into the African market. UHD is a digital TV format that has four times the resolution and number of pixels than an HD TV. It requires a stronger framework but the technical and design team insisted that the styling and functionality of S9 UHD was not compromised in any way. George Ferreira, chief operating officer of Samsung Africa, said, “ We are well positioned to bring to this continent consumer electronic to take Africa to the next level.
“This year emerging markets will account for a greater market share than other more matured markets.”
He also said the company was at the forefront of connecting the continent through it’s innovative product development and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative tailored specifically for the African environment. The firm also unveiled its Solar Powered Internet School (SPIS) which provides solution to one of Africa’s largest economic challenges – education and electrification. The SPIS is entirely mobile, it can be loaded onto the back of a truck for transportation into remote areas of Africa.
Part of the Built for Africa campaign, the schools are specifically engineered to the continent. Solar panels are rubber, not glass, and provide up to 9hours of electricity to keep the power house of technology inside the box running. This technology includes a 50 inch electronic E-board and different Samsung Notebooks and Netbooks, including the world-first solar powered Netbooks and Galaxy Tablets for student and teacher interface. The school is also equipped with an energy efficient refrigerator, a file server, router, Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS), video camera and Wi-Fi camera.
