A Taiwanese smartphone manufacturing company has swore it would concentrate more on the South African market, four months after launching a local office. High Tech Computer Corporation, HTC, announced the move while focusing on its new One-series range of devices.
Jon French, HTC’s vice-president for sales operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said: “We felt it was time to establish our own presence in SA. It’s clear we have put a lot of effort into the One X, the One S and the One V and we are bringing all of those products to SA in the next few weeks.”
The One X is already available through MTN, and will soon go on sale through Vodacom channels. The One X, together with Galaxy S3 from Samsung, is viewed as the world’s current flagship Android smartphones.
Four months earlier, HTC decided to bring a local office in South Africa, to serve its growing customer base. French added that a local country manager would soon be appointed.
A dedicated sales team will serve the country’s two biggest mobile operators, MTN and Vodacom. However, HTC’s long-standing SA distributor, Leaf Wireless will continue to serve Cell C, 8ta and other parties.
Founded in 1997, HTC has built a reputation as the behind-the-scenes designer and manufacturer of varied popular OEM-branded mobile devices. Some of its early products include the HTC Touch, a touch-screen device that appeared in 2007, approximately the same time as Apple’s first iPhone.
According to Nick Jotischky, an analysts at Informa Telecoms and Media, Africa still has one of the lowest Smartphone penetration levels in the world at 5.1 percent.
HTC might be banking on this, backed up by the recent developments in the internet penetration in Africa, and also the entry of several fibre optic cables, analysts say.
