As international consumer brands strive to establish in Kenya, phones have not been left out in the spread. In the past two years, the country has seen the settlement French origin gadgets from tecno, Infinix and now Wiko.
Despite the brands importing a wide range of gadgets, the companies have been keen to partner with telecommunication companies, that being a good strategy to capture an already established market. Safaricom has been on the lead to partner with smartphone manufacturers like Tecno, Infinix and today, the leading telco has partnered with Wiko to stock and sell its 4G phone christened ‘Wiko Ridge’.
The new series targets the youth and middle- aged as it is the norm with mobile manufacturing companies worldwide with the use of new technology goes up among the target market. ‘Wiko Ridge’ will retail at The Company has also hinted on the release of other high technology gadgets in Kenya in the next two to three weeks.
Four months ago, the mobile manufacturer partnered online retailer Jumia in a bid to boost its sales as it launched a new model named Wiko Gateway one that joined flagship devices; Wiko Highway and Wiko Gateway.
The device that made an entry into Kenya late last year as part of an Africa-entry strategy hopes to broaden their market visibility to the larger online community with the merge between telcos and online retailers. Also the effort to merge with key retail partners across major towns in the country will enhance accessibility and visibility of the devices to the larger mass out of urban settings.
With plans in place to deepen its market strategies in Nigeria, Poland, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the company aims at dominating countries where Chinese phone manufacturers have made a headway.
In 2013, the company shipped 26m devices to European markets most of these being dual-Sim Android. With the pocket friendly prices and new day technology, the company has attracted 85 percent of buyers under 35 years.