Google’s Android system powers 94pc of smartphones in Kenya

Cloudflare said there was traffic recorded from other operating systems apart from iOS and Android but it was negligible.

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More than nine out of 10 Kenyans have Android phones, a new report shows, attributed to their affordability.

The country report by Cloudflare, an American, which provides cloud cyber security services and distributed denial of services (DDoS) mitigation, among others, found that 94.2 percent of Kenyans use phones with an Android operating system (OS).

The report showed that iPhone users accounted for 5.8 percent of the mobile connectivity traffic in Kenya.

“Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android remain the two most widely used mobile device operating systems. However, adoption varies significantly around the world—Peak Android traffic share is over 95 percent, while peak iOS traffic share is around 66 percent,” said Cloudflare.

Android phones offer budget-friendly options with specifications for basic tasks like browsing, social media, and light multitasking.

They typically come with entry-level processors, sufficient RAM, and internal storage. Some Android phones go for as low as Sh3,000 while the latest new iPhones cost more than Sh126,000 for 256 GigaByte storage.

Cloudflare said there was traffic recorded from other operating systems apart from iOS and Android but it was negligible.

Android has had a higher market share globally (71.42 percent) compared to Apple’s mobile operating system (iOS) (27.93 percent) except for the United States where the reverse is true with iPhone users controlling 61.45 percent against Android’s 38.13 percent.

According to Statista, Google’s Android was Africa’s most widely used mobile platform and accounted for 91.54 percent of the mobile operating system market in Kenya as of November 2024.

“Apple’s iOS was the next most popular operating system in the country, with a market share of about four percent in the same month. Overall, Android OS has dominated the mobile OIS market in Kenya since 2018,” added Statista.

Government interventions, including local manufacturing, have seen Kenyans report a massive uptake of the locally assembled, low-cost, 4G-enabled Android handsets.

This followed the establishment late last year of a plant to ensure more citizens have access to smartphones.

President William Ruto unveiled Kenya’s first mobile phone assembly plant—the East Africa Device Assembly Kenya Limited in Athi River.

Eadak, which is a joint venture between local telco operators Safaricom and Jamii Telecom in addition to Chinese phone manufacturer Telel and the Industrial Technology Training Company Limited.

Its Neon 5 Smarta and Neon 6 Ultra retail at Sh7,499 and Sh8,999 respectively.

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