Chinese phone maker, Tecno, is planning to establish a mobile phone manufacturing plant in Nigeria. Arif Chowdhury, vice president, Tecno Group, who made the disclosure, weekend during an interactive session with journalists at the launch of the Tecno P3 smartphone, said that Nigeria’s is the company’s largest market in terms of volume. “Lagos will be the location of the plant because Lagos is not just the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria but also the economic capital of Africa. In view of this, Chowdhury said there was need for government to put the right on place in the area of duty structure for mobile phone import to enable the firm finalise its plans to float a plant.
Speaking in the same vein, Boukali Mounir, public relations manager of Tecno, stated that phone manufacturer intends to build the plant in Nigeria not just to advance its economic interest but also to show that the company is interested in making a long term investment in Nigeria. He explained that the phone plant would have a multiplier effect on the economy from job and wealth creation perspective, further adding that, “we want to be seen as long term investors and we want to do more than selling phones.” The phone maker has partnered with Etisalat and Qualcomm Incorporated, a leader in next-generation mobile technologies to launch the P3 smartphone into the Nigerian market.
The Tecno P3 is an entry-level smartphone that runs on Andriod 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM7225A processor to offer users the best 3G smartphone experience, good battery life, easy access to the internet and multiple social networks. “We realised that internet savvy Nigerians are in dire need of a fast, innovative and seamless internet experience. These experienced are what the P3 smartphone brings, and that also informs why we partnered with Etisalat.” Wael Ammar, chief commercial officer of Etisalat Nigeria, said, “The telecoms industry has seen an increased demand for data and smartphone.
“It is important for network providers and phone manufacturers to continue to collaborate and initiative products and services to satisfy these needs. Etisalat’s most advanced 3.75G, HSPA+Network and its easyblaze broadband service with speed up to 42mbps combined with these Tecno phone is yet another example of our continuous effort to bring our customer easy, affordable and reliable access to the internet. Speaking at the event, Alex Dadson, senior director of business development for Qualcomms West Africa, said, “Our partnership with Tecno in manufacturing smartphone according to the Qualcomm Reference Design (QRD) continues to offer the Nigerian market the best 3G smartphone experience.”
Stories by BEN UZOR JR
