Kenyans purchase 2.2 million smartphones in three months

A man shops for a mobile phone on display in one of the shops along Kimathi street in Nairobi.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

Kenyans bought 2.2 million smartphones in the three months to September 2024, marking a record purchase in a single quarter, reflecting a rising penchant for modern gadgets that offer a wider array of functions.

A Business Daily analysis of data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows the growth to be the highest within a three-month period since the agency started providing records of purchases of the devices.

The regulator’s data indicates that as of the close of last September, the number of smartphones in active use in the country stood at 37.4 million up from 35.2 million in June, translating to a 6.3 percent growth.

On the flipside, Kenyans abandoned use of 200,000 feature phones during the period, leading to a 0.6 percent decline in usage to 30.7 million down from the 30.9 million recorded at the end of June.

Most feature phones perform basic functions that span making calls, sending text messages, and playing music in contrast with smartphones whose capabilities are more complex.

“The total number of mobile phone devices connected to mobile networks was 67.7 million with a penetration rate of 131.5 percent. Smartphones took the lead with a penetration of 72.6 percent,” noted CA in its latest quarterly sector review.

“Mobile phones devices include all mobile phones that were connected to mobile networks as of the end of the quarter. It is subject to multiple phone ownership and therefore it should not be mistaken for mobile phone ownership.”

The growing shift in favour of smartphones indicates that consumers are leaning towards gadgets that address new-age needs key among them internet connectivity whose local demand has grown rapidly in recent years.

Increased adoption of smart devices could also be linked to heightened marketing by phone manufacturers and mobile network operators who have introduced credit offers on the products to spur acquisition of the devices and make phased payments.

Smartphone penetration first overtook that of feature phones in the local market in September 2023 when the former hit 32.63 million while the latter stood at 32.04 million.

A month later, President William Ruto unveiled Kenya’s first-ever mobile phone assembly plant in a development that was aimed at hastening the adoption pace of the smart gadgets by pegging the retail price at an affordable rate of $40 (about Sh5,170 at current conversion rates).

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