From left: Obi managing director Amit Rupchandani, Despec Africa head of telecommunications Farouk Jamal, Obi product manager Anne Njathi, Obi head of marketing and communication Yusuf Khan and Despec Africa CEO Farouk Jivani during the launch of Obi smartphones in Nairobi on January 21, 2014. PHOTO | DIANA NGILA |
What you need to know:
The phones will retail at between Sh4,700 and Sh28,000.
The company unveiled its smartphones in India and Middle East in April last year.
Obi Mobiles founder John Sculley, former Apple CEO, has settled for a rapid market expansion as a strategy to seek global visibility and upset competition.
A Singapore-based mobile phone company has launched dual SIM card handsets for sale in Kenya.
Obi Mobiles plans to sell its seven smartphone brands in Kenya and East Africa as a point of entry to the rest of Africa.
The phones will retail at between Sh4,700 and Sh28,000.
“The global trend is that the market share of some of the leading device manufacturers has been declining,” said managing director Amit Rupchandani. “We are a global company and some of our local competition doesn’t enjoy that.”
Samsung, Techno and Nokia Lumia brands currently dominate Kenya’s smartphones market.
Mr Rupchandani is banking on Obi’s global appeal to grab a slice of the market.
He estimates that 500,000 phones are sold in Kenya every month. “I will be comfortable selling 250,000 units this year,” he said Wednesday at the launch of the phones in Nairobi.
The company unveiled its smartphones in India and Middle East in April last year. Obi Mobiles founder John Sculley, former Apple CEO, has settled for a rapid market expansion as a strategy to seek global visibility and upset competition.
“Their entry (Obi) in these markets will be buoyed by trends such as increased mobile Internet usage and penetration among target consumers,” said Farouk Jivani, CEO Despec Africa, an IT firm in Kenya that Obi has contracted as its sole stockist in the region.
Obi’s target market is young, trendy youth. Its dual SIM phone model targets Kenyans who operate more than one line.
The 3G enabled handset runs on Android Kit Kat operating system and has an expandable memory of up to 32-gigabytes. The devices will be stocked in March at local retail outlets and leading mobile outlets in Nairobi.
Obi Mobiles is a venture by a Canadian investment and acquisition company called Inflexionpoint. The firm expressed optimism that Kenyan consumers would embrace the new smartphones and boost sales.
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