Android is KING in Zambia

 

Clearly, from all the people you have bumped into, and all the selfies you see, everyone now is rocking an Android-powered device. Over the last one year, Android has grown to become the top OS in Zambia thanks to OEMs like Samsung, HTC and LG, who have flooded the market with a plethora of devices for every pocket.

According to a recent pull of StatCounter data pulled today, Android accounts for 38.3% of the total landscape, with unknown –  your typical Chinese phone – at 18.85%, Series 40 at 17.3% (yes, the Nokia guys still tight-fisted to let go of their feature phones), Symbian at 4.82%, Apple’s iOS at 4.99%, with Windows up from 2.16% to 3.18% and BlackBerry at 2.83%.

In so far as other OSes are concerned, the Zambian consumer is sticking to the tried and tested and word of mouth, from early Android adopters as well as cost and branding have influenced purchase decisions.

 

The winners are clearly Samsung, who lead the possible OEMs that ship Android into Zambia at 22.5%, followed by Huawei at 4.5%, HTC at 2.1% and ZTE at 0.75%. Leading still in Nokia at 26.96%, with “unknown” an inch close.

The opportunities are immense, the challenges remain in reducing the cost and broadening the means of financing. The jury is still out on the variety at multiple price points with an accompanying value proposition from the Operators. New entrants from India and China, such as Xiamoi, Karbonn and Spice riding on the Android One smartphone, pose a significant challenge to the big brand with their huge marketing spends and subsidies.