Following the introduction of three high-end and affordable mobile phones within a span of 2 months, Kenya is currently witnessing a clash of the phone making titans.
Tagging along in the combat are mobile operators who are rushing to make deals with technology leaders such as Samsung, LG and Huawei.
The new kid on the block, Huawei, made the recent launches the first being 5 days ago with an android device in partnership with Kenya’s mobile operator Safaricom. The Huawei Ascend Y100 has been taunted as a replacement of their highly successful IDEOS U8150 phone that was introduced two years ago.
Fully packed with features, the Ascend comes with a 2GB internal memory, 3.2MP camera and 2.8 inches screen. The deal gets better as the device is retailing at a low cost of Ksh 8,449. As an incentive, Safaricom are crediting buyers with KSh1,000 in airtime, unlimited SMS for 7 days and 1.5GB of free data.
Huawei are also behind the Huawei Gaga that was launched on May 23 retailing at 8,799 courtesy of Orange Kenya. With support for Android Froyo, Huawei Gaga (Huawei U8180 IDEOS X1) comes packed with a 3.2MP, 2.8 inches screen display, 512 MB ROM and 256MB RAM.
The Samsung Galaxy pocket also hit the market with a bang in May when Samsung East Africa offered buyers a free device for each pocket bought at a retail price of KSh 9, 999 in 18 outlets of their choosing.
Setup for the youth, the Galaxy Pocket is a multitouch device using the TouchWiz UX UI. It comes packed with a 3.15MP camera, 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM. Its use of the Android Froyo give it access to over 400, 000 Android applications.
LG in turn introduced the LG Optimus L3 early May with a fair price offer of KSh 10, 000 down from KSh 12, 000.
The budget phone features a 3.15MP camera, Gingerbread 2.3.6, 1 GB internal storage and 384 MB RAM.
With the average number of smartphone users reported to use the devices to consume information through apps, create multimedia as well as listen to music, storage and memory remain the single most components of a smartphone.
And while the Huawei Ascend wins on this front, brands such as LG come in strong to counter with the ability to offer better support facilities.
Compared to five years ago when a feature phone packed with a 2MP camera and an FM radio only used to cost more than a US$100, the smartphone age can only be said to be in its infancy.
