LG Electronics Mobile Strategy for the East African Market

LG mobile strategy is geared towards offering great value at competitive prices. This company targets a diverse consumer demographic with their product: from low income customers to consumers on the higher side of the scale.

Google Partnership with LG

Google recently used LG to manufacture the Galaxy Nexus 4.

Regional Research and Development

In an effort to establish products that are suitable for the East African region, LG plans to invest $2.4billion in the region.

Sales

LG mobile phones sold in the East African region brought in a revenue $10.55 billion to the company.

Smart Phones to Outnumber Feature Phones in East Africa By 2013

If current trends continue, Smartphone sales will surpass those of feature phones in East Africa. By 2014, it is expected that smart phones will account for 51% of East Africa device sales. 

In Kenya, there will be 4.3 million smart phones by the beginning of 2014, surpassing the figure for feature phones. 

East Africa Smartphone shipments were up 21.5% in the second quarter of 2013. 

For the first time in the history of phone sales, global Smartphone sales exceeded that of feature phones according to a report by Gartner.

Smart Phone Companies Partnering With East Africa Mobile Phone Networks

Such partnerships have greatly improved the sales of major Smartphone brands. In Kenya, Samsung and Nokia are working closely with Safaricom

Reasons behind the popularity of smart phones

• They are quite functional

• They look great

East Africa, Smartphone penetration is rising with every passing day.

Smartphone Brands Most East Africans Love

Some East Africans love the flashy things of life. Therefore, they go for the best of the best in the mobile phone market. However, affordable brands are still the preference of most people due to the prevailing economic conditions.

Samsung

This is a major hit in the region. The company has regional offices in Kenya. Samsung Galaxy tab has generated a lot of regional buzz. Also, Samsung Pocket is the choice of many East African teenagers as a result of its superior features such as 4G internal memory and affordable price of around $100.

Nokia

Nokia Lumia has caught the attention of some East Africans. Nokia has a good deal of local fanatics because this company has built a wide portfolio of devices that are available at different price points.

Apple

Millions of Iphones have been sold in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This can be attributed to the prestige associated with this brand. East Africa has a vibrant and growing middle and upper classes who appreciate the finer things of life.

Smartphone Penetration in East Africa

In East Africa, Smartphone penetration stands at 17-19%. This figure is expected to double by 2018 to stand at 40-42%. Smartphone sales in East Africa have already outnumbered that of feature phones.

Leading Mobile Phone Operators in East Africa Have Stopped Selling Feature Phones

It seems the business of selling feature phones in East Africa is diminishing with every passing day. This is because many people have fallen in love with Smartphone brands.  

Safaricom, Tigo and MTN are just but some of the regional operators who channeling funds from feature phones to smart phones.

Technology being upgraded across the board as a result of rising Smartphone penetration

 Rising Smartphone penetration poses a challenge to telecommunication companies in this part of the word. They have to up their game by adopting new technologies that cost of millions of dollars.

Affordable Smart Phones behind the Rising Penetration

Rising Smartphone penetration is as a result of an array of factors including popularity of these devices and the easy availability of affordable smart phones. It is possible to find a Smartphone in East Africa for as low as $80. Most of the cheap products are imported from China.

How Mobile Technology Can Help Fight Hunger in East Africa

The answer to the problem of hunger in East Africa can be the proper harnessing of mobile technology for the purpose of preventing disasters and helping people recover from disasters.

Some parts of East Africa are usually affected by droughts and floods time and again which result to hunger.

Preventing Disasters

Disasters can be prevented if people get the right information at the right time. It is purely an issue of timing.

• Mobile phones facilitate the timely dispensation of information. Luckily, many people in East Africa have access to mobile phones.

•   People need to be informed about weather forecasts so that they can know if a dry spell is in the near future and subsequently make the necessary arrangements.  

•  If humanitarian organizations properly embrace technology and team up with East African telecoms, it will be easy to dispense much needed information in a timely manner.

Preventing Hunger by Facilitating Better Access to Food

One of the ways to make a person to have better access to food is by making him to have money. 

Money is the answer to many problems in the world.

Once someone has the necessary cash in the pocket, he can move from a hunger stricken region to a more endowed area because he has cash.

Most of the people, who live in areas that are constantly affected by dry spells, usually have a lot of animals during the good seasons which end up being destroyed during the dry spell. If such individuals get information from their mobile phones about an upcoming dry spell, they make arrangements to sell their animals.

Because of mobile phone technology, it will be possible for a person in a rural area to know the amount of cash he can get by selling an animal, therefore he will not be conned by a middleman and he will end up with a lot of money in the pocket that can make him to be in a position to facilitate future food security for himself and his family.

Information East Africans Living In Arid Areas Need So That They Can Fight Hunger

• The different types  of drought resistant crops
• Where to sell produce for a profit

•  How to prepare for a dry spell

• When a dry spell will come

All that information can be obtained easily if someone has a mobile phone that is connected to the internet and there is a stable mobile phone network in the region in question.

How Mobile Phone Technology Can Help People Recover From Disasters

Some disasters are simple unpreventable therefore there is need for measures that will facilitate disaster recovery.

Mobile Phone Donations

Because East Africa has a proper mobile money transfer infrastructure, it is easy to solicit donations via mobile phones. A lot of money was raised via mobile phones donations by Kenyans to help fellow Kenyans who were affected by 2012 drought as part of the Kenyans for Kenya Initiative.

Mobile Technology: An East African Perspective

In East Africa, Kenya is leading in terms of mobile usage standing at 67.2% mobile penetration rate. Close to 7 in every 10 Kenyans owns and uses a mobile phone on a daily basis. The peculiar calling habit of Kenyans was the subject of a joke by Michael Joseph, former CEO of one of the biggest telecoms in the region (Safaricom.)

The mobile penetration of Tanzania stands at 56%. Tanzania is also doing well when it comes to advancements in Mobile technology. It was one of the first countries in the region to have 4G internet. Countries lagging behind in this area include Rwanda and Uganda.

In Kenya, there are 26 million mobile subscribers as at 2013. The figure for Tanzania is 23 million subscribers while Uganda has 12 million mobile users. 

Because of the popularity of mobile phones in East Africa, Telecoms are registering few fixed lines as compared to the formative years. Fixed lines in Kenya as at 2013 do not exceed 400,000. This scenario is replicated across the region with Tanzania have less than 200,000 fixed line subscribers.

Phone Usage

Someone can own a phone yet he does not use it much. Research indicates that a good percentage of East Africans are constantly on the phone. As a matter of fact, mobile technology has totally revolutionized this part of the world. Kenya has the highest number of active mobile phone uses.

Who Sends More Text Messages?

Tanzanians send more text messages compared to Kenyans and Ugandans.

What do Kenyans Exactly Use Their Phones For?

Kenyans make the highest number of telephone calls in the region. Also, Kenyan telecoms recorded the highest number of mobile money transactions. Actually, the first mobile money transfer service in Africa(M-Pesa) is a brainchild of a Kenyan. This payment transfer model has been replicated across the world including in the Middle East.

Cheapest and Expensive Call Rates

It is expensive to make a phone call in Uganda. The average call tariff of Uganda is $ 0.08 per minute, in Kenya and Uganda, the average tariff is $0.04 per minute which represents half the cost of making a telephone call in Uganda.