Good News for RIM: Nigeria Leads Africa’s Smartphone Market

Nigeria has been identified as the leading country on the continent as regards smartphone penetration. This is obviously good news for Canadian smartphone maker, Research in Motion. In Nigeria, out of every ten smartphones, at least five are Blackberry devices.
Nigeria has become a major market for makers of smartphones to sell their products and maximize their profits.
From social events, religious gatherings, picnics and various forums Nigerians display different brands of smartphones and the under 35’s get more engaged on it using the social media feeds to explore and network with  friends, sharing ideas and views.
At the recent  regional launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Samsung Galaxy Camera held in Cape Town, the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Samsung Electronics Africa Mr. George Ferreira affirmed this trend stating that when it comes to smartphone penetration in  Africa, Nigeria is the first in the continent with 41%.
Also speaking at the launch, the Group’s West African Business Leader for Nigeria, Mr Emmanuel Revmatas said “Mobile broadband penetration has increased tremendously over the last few years and all across Africa we are witnessing continued investment in infrastructure by most of the network operators making it possible for telecom subscribers to take full advantage of world of endless opportunities that smart devices like the Samsung Galaxy Note II offers”.
Mr George Ferreira also revealed that Africa is now the fastest and second largest mobile market in the globe after China, With Nigeria taking the driver’s seat followed by South Africa, Kenya and Ghana in the smartphone sales which rose from  90 million in 2005 to a current estimate of 450 million handsets in 2012.
With this development and trend it is expected that the smartphone makers like Samsung and Apple, will begin to look at markets like Nigeria strategically, with a view to partnering with government to tackle the issue of unemployment affecting the youth, by opening service industries that can create jobs