Samsung, Safaricom launch new smart phone in Kenya

Samsung has introduced its latest smartphone brand in Kenya, aiming for a piece of the rapidly growing top-end mobile market that has witnessed increased activity over the past three months.

It is teaming up with Safaricom to sell the phone, S8500, and becomes the second firm after Huawei to ride on the back of the company’s 16.2 million subscribers to grow their unit sales.

Dubbed the ‘Sumsung Wave’, S8500 is positioned for the mass market.

“The Samsung Wave will be retailing exclusively at Safaricom outlets countrywide for Sh29,999 and will come with 100MB free data and Sh1,000 free airtime,” said Mr Robert Ngeru, the Samsung Electronics Kenya deputy managing director.

The data business has emerged as the next frontier for growth in Kenya’s telecoms market, a move that has spurred the service providers and equipment dealers roll out new products and raise marketing spend.

According to Pyramid Research, data and broadband Internet revenue for Kenyan mobile operators is expected to grow rapidly over the next five years, generating $76 million by 2014, up from $20.6 million last year.

Last month, Safaricom partnered with a Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, to roll out the U8220 phone, powered by Google’s Android operating system for high speed Internet.

Early in this year, Nokia launched Nokia C3, Nokia C6, Nokia E5 smartphones after LG introduced its Android-powered LG Optimus (LG GT540) in Kenya.

Late last year, Orange Kenya launched Apple’s iphone.

Zain Kenya will be launching its 3G services by the fourth quarter of this year and is anticipating working with the industry regulator to streamline the entry of the more advanced 4G technology.

Safaricom said they intend to continue partnering with device manufacturers to see the company drive its data agenda.

Samsung’s S8500 seeks to battle out with the Chinese Huawei U8220 phone as they seek to curve in on the market segment currently occupied by iPhone and BlackBerry.

Social hub

The Samsung Wave offers a social hub designed to integrate major portal’s e-mail into the phone.

The phone also provides users with integrated messaging, managing contacts, and calender events.