I've seen a part of the smartphone situation in South Africa After all, smartphones are widespread (1/2)

South Africa is located at the southern tip of the African continent. It is a large country with 54 million people. At the end of June, I had the opportunity to visit two cities, Johannesburg and Cape Town, so I would like to summarize the trends in local mobile phones that I had a glimpse of at that time.

It should be noted that the purpose of the trip is not related to the mobile phone, and it is only a free time of about one hour to look around, so it should be noted first that the information is biased.

Huawei ads stand out at South African airports

Huawei and Samsung's fierce advertising war in South Africa

First of all, from the advertising battle. After arriving at the airport, there was a confrontation between the two companies that would be seen in the city (especially in the office district and shopping centers).

The first thing I saw was an advertisement for a Chinese bank on the wall, including the Bank of China. Next is Huawei. The latest "HUAWEI P9 / P9 Plus" advertisement comes into my eyes. Samsung to pick up your luggage. Samsung has hired a cricket team, a national sport in South Africa (probably next to rugby), to display big ads on home appliances as well as smartphones.

Samsung's advertisement appointed cricket players and appealed the brand not only to smartphones but also to home appliances such as TVs.

As you can see, Samsung and Huawei ads were common in the city, but Apple and other manufacturers' ads were rare. As for the frequency of seeing advertisements, it seems that Huawei had many, probably because it was the timing when a new product was announced, but Samsung also has its own shop, and it has the style of the throne (probably 15 years ago). Nokia should have been). Like the trend in the world, Huawei is actively advertising to Samsung, which is the largest vendor.

The advertisement for "HUAWEI P9", which was just released in Japan, was also conspicuous.

Entry-class Android smartphones are popular in the city There is also an inexpensive plan with a two-year contract

What kind of phone do people use? Most of them were Android smartphones such as Samsung's "Galaxy J" series, which are inexpensive but can be touched.

Samsung shop in Cape Town shopping center

The Galaxu J series and the mid-range Galaxu A series above it are available in the range of 100 to 200 rand (about 700 to 1400 yen) per month with a two-year contract. In addition, it is also developing for entry such as Huawei Y series.

Vodacom, the largest carrier in South Africa, offers cheap Android-based devices under its own brand, and it is said by a local (Johannesburg) acquaintance that these have become established as easy-to-use smartphones. However, as I was walking around the city, I heard the nostalgic Nokia Tune, so I felt that there were still many feature phones.

He went into a repair shop in downtown Cape Town. According to Suleman, who has been running the store for over 10 years, the popularity is the old Galaxy S series and iPhone. It was said that many people have two, and many people use feature phones and smartphones for emergencies as a set.

Except for shops that sell smartphone repairs, accessories, used terminals, etc. in the city

While talking like that, a man in his 50s said, "I heard that a second-hand iPhone will be available this week ...". Suleman replied, "It sold right away." The next woman said she had a boutique two houses away and she came to buy earphones. The current main terminal is "Galaxy S6". She basically buys a new smartphone every two years, but the smartphone she bought this year was Huawei. "The camera is good and the interface is good. It was easier to use than Samsung," but it was stolen and eventually became the Galaxy S6.

A woman who likes Huawei's smartphone.She's an old Samsung smartphone that she's got to her son now

When the woman upgrades her smartphone, she says she'll give her old smartphone to her teenager's son, who said Samsung was his favorite.

You can also feel the "push" of Huawei in her career shop. At a carrier shop called Cell C at an airport in Johannesburg, consultant Mzonba commented, "Samsung is the mainstream, but Huawei is becoming more popular." "It seems that we are very satisfied with the value of the price," he said.

She visited the shop of the emerging carrier Cell C.Feature phones also seem to be still popular

Other than Samsung and Huawei, there were LG, Sony, Microsoft (Lumia), BlackBerry, and Xiaomi in the carrier catalog called MTN (Xiaomi has been available for MTN since the end of 2015). There was also a terminal of AG Mobile, a local African mobile phone maker, and I could feel the local color.

At the Johannesburg airport, shops of the three major carriers are lined up and SIMs can also be purchased. In Cell C, nano SIM is exceptionally cheap at 3 rand (21 yen). I said "at this store", so it seems that the price is different depending on the shop