Mid this year Sony Ericsson launched or relaunched their phone products in Kenya. I am torn between launch and relaunch because on the day of the launch they were speaking as if that was their first time in Kenya..although in the back of my mind i have always thought they have been around like forever. But that is understandable since they lost a lot on the tsunami disaster in Japan. Anyway at the function i was a bit excited to see the Sony Ericsson new phones, and from the way they were talking, i thought they ware ready for the competition in Kenya.
They promised that their presence will be felt in Kenya in many ways including the up coming Developers’ Apps competition based on Android platform. I am tempted to say that competitions seem to be the in thing to get apps done for many empty appstores in Kenya. By the way i have nothing against this or against appstore. I like app stores, i like Android market, i used to be number one fan of Ovistore in the early stages, and in particular I like what Virtual City people are doing with their new appstore hewani.co.ke. and hope the developers will make use of it to make money. My review on it is coming up here soon. But i think Sony Ericcson is taking developers for a ride ….ooooh let me do proper introduction of what Sony Ericcson is doing.
Sony Ericsson has announced plans to run regional Application development competition on Android platform dubbed Apps for Africa- East. Great idea more so when you read their introduction:
Do you have a suggestion on how mobile technology can support livelihood in rural Africa?
Perhaps you have an idea for an application that can help your business grow.
Good stuff, appealing to the inner goodness of people to help the livelihood in rural Africa, but mmmmh what it is in it for the developers beyond that and how about Sony Ericcson?
Let me take you down to the prizes:
Prizes
Members of the winning team will each receive a Sony Ericsson Xperia phone, while teams in second place will receive Business Experience Packs (incl. Sony Ericsson MW600, office pro, McAfee, and a micro USB cable).
Hehehehe… a phone. Ok, let me not come out as someone who does not appreciate such a great effort, “I do” but I would like you to take a look at the people who are meant to participate on this.
Who can Join the Competition
The competition is open to both students and small & medium sized enterprises (< 100 employees) within Eastern Africa: Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mayotte, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda.
Watu wawache jokes! Seriously you expect a medium size company with 99 employees to compete on this and win a phone? Even for a student that is a waste of time, energy and effort…
I know, I should bring a bit of perspective on this. Nokia usually run a competition where the top prize is $1million. Yes that is one million US dollars, the regional prizes range from 25000 dollars and above. Virtual City won the competition last year and they are doing very well.. Remember pivot 25 competition the top prize was 25000 US dollars while the category winners went home with 5,000 dollars.. Samsung had similar competition with great prizes. Another method both Nokia and Samsung used when they wanted their respective stores to be filled with apps, they sponsored or rather invested on the apps development. Back to Sony Ericsson’s competition, their most expensive phone probably goes for KES. 60K, unfortunately, one of the phone listed on the prizes goes for KES.15K. Now convert that to dollars for easier comparison — at most you get something close to $.669. And if you are unlucky to win 15k priced phone then you have $167. …SMH
Well well well and well
Samsung waache ujinga….ujinga ni kupatia mtu ugali in exchange of his burger….someone is trying to take advantage of the local developers
Quite a spirited post boss! I agree the consideration for the winners could have been more substantial. However I think it’s important to understand the motivation for entering the competition to begin with…It’s my understanding that the competition is geared more towards solving societal problems as opposed to purely commercial applications. If you look at it from that perspective, the opportunity to have the application developed (which may add will be supported by Ericsson’s own team of developers) is big enough incentive for social entrepreneurs looking to make a difference…
And the competition is open to non-developers (as long as you have a solid idea for an app), opening it even more to a wider audience of social-change agents.
Your thoughts?
Mmmmmh not Samsung but Sony Ericsson..
I agree, but do you think Sony Ericsson cares that much for the societal problems? Do you think that is the motivation behind the competition on their side? May be and may be not, what i know is they want to penetrate the market, and this is one way of doing it..
Another clarification, the competition is actually being driven by Ericsson (Sony Ericsson are partners in the competition).
I have can’t speak of their intentions, but I do know for a fact that Ericsson has a strong community involvement program and proven track record on the same. The app competition is a natural extension of work they’re already doing in the communities.
I’ve personally seen some of the ideas being generated for the competition and there are a lot of exciting solutions (especially from mashinani). Personally I think the bigger question is how Ericsson plans on ensuring these apps/ ideas see the light of day.
Like I said, this isn’t Sony Ericsson’s baby and perhaps that’s where the confusion is coming in but I do know a they have a solid albeit quietly organic strategy for the market which I hope will become evident soon.
It’s okay to have apps for development, but developers can’t survive on charity! They need to make money to survive… so for an app competition like this, one can only do it on a voluntary basis.
Isn’t there price award of 15000 USD. thats what i was thinking …. ebu read their website