Market growth for smart phones increasing in rural areas
The market growth for smartphones in the country has increased exponentially signalling a high rise of technological use by Namibians in the rural areas according to MTC.
The mobile services provider said that at the concluded Ongwediva Trade fair, sales of brands like the AG Hashtag, Hisense, STK, ZTE Blade Huawei y3, Huawei P9 and Huawei P9 lite smartphones which were on stock at the MTC Sales booth at Ongwediva, was evidence of the developments.
MTC sold over 4600 units of cellphones which ranged from basic feature phones to high-end smartphones.
“The cheapest cellphone was the Mint F1 at a cost of N$170 including other basic feature phones, such as the often referred to by its humble name of “Okatoshe”, which proved to be popular with the public with sales accounting to nearly 50% of sales on the devices that were on hand,” MTC said.
According to MTC, studies indicated that in seven Sub Saharan Africa, mobile phone usage has grown substantially, driving-up mobile handsets sales. Researchers found that, on average, 15% of people living in those countries had a smart phone, while 65% still used a feature phone.
Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer Tim Ekandjo said, “we launched the ‘Osmartphona’ Campaign whose objective was to ensure that smart phones absorption especially in peri-urban and rural Namibia increases to ensure increased connectivity and also add to the quality of life of our rural population.”
The second phase of the strategy was the 100% population network coverage or the 081Every1 project, which we launched in July to provide 3G and in some instances 4G network access to rural Namibia.
“So as the country’s economy and access keep growing, smartphones are going to be a very important place for investment and innovation,” Ekandjo said.
“There’s no doubt that sales of smart phone handsets are on the rise as strong competition brings prices down, at MTC we will continue using the various exhibitions and Trade Fairs abound in the country as very important consumer touch points to keep introducing these new devices and ensure that we reach the goal we set out to be to see that each and every Namibian is able to browse the internet through our network with a MTC procured or supplied smart device – this is what 081Every1 will be all about,” Ekandjo concluded.
