$80 Android Phone Sells Like Hotcakes In Kenya 205
kkleiner writes "Earlier this year, the Chinese firm Huawei unveiled IDEOS through Kenya's telecom titan, Safaricom. So far, this $80 smartphone has found its way into the hands of 350,000+ Kenyans, an impressive sales number in a country where 40% of the population lives on less than two dollars a day. The smartphone is the exemplar of a truly liberating device, and thanks to Android and Huawei, it has the potential to reach virtually untapped markets."
Ugali phone! (Score:5, Funny)
Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring Ring
Ugali phone!
Ring Dong Ring Dong Ring Dong Ding
Not ba-ad phone!
It comes in one's es
from skipping lunches
It's not a bad phone (Score:5, Interesting)
We've been using them in Nairobi for a mobile learning project. The students get one of the Ideos phone with a micro SD card loaded with the videos, reading material and tests for the class.
I liked them enough that I bought one for my wife. Newegg sells them in the US for $140. She needed a new phone before we moved to Europe and it's been great. The screen is not too big, the camera is pretty crappy and it doesn't have the horsepower of a phone like my Galaxy S, but it does really well with calls and has better connectivity than my phone. We are on the same carrier and half the time when I can't get data, she can.
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Well about the camera no surprise. Of course it's low end, that's reflected in the price. How about motion sensors? GPS and compass? Radio? Does it have those? Not mentioned in TFA and sorry I'm too lazy to dig around Huawei's web site.
The most interesting part about this phone, as mentioned in TFA, is that it's considered a "laptop killer" in Kenya. That, plus the sheer sales numbers, indicate that they're doing something right.
Re:It's not a bad phone (Score:4, Informative)
I didn't read the article - so I don't know where they got the $80 part. I think we pay $100 in Nairobi. So I didn't think $140 in the US was bad. And there may be better deals in the US. I just knew I could get it at Newegg and I like dealing with them. No idea why you'd pay so much in Mexico though. Is no one else competing at a lower price point with another device?
Re:It's not a bad phone (Score:5, Informative)
They've revamped it as the Ideos X1 and are selling it at AU$99 now (the specs are identical).
I bought one of the original 8150s, and have been very happy with it. As long as you keep an eye on the number of running apps, it's responsive enough and does as much as any other Froyo phone.
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>>scamming poor naive Africans out of education and drinking water, in favor of crap that won't last, and is of no practical use AT ALL in any developing country - especially Kenya
You don't know very much about Kenya, do you? You think "Africa" and get images of starving Ethiopians, don't cha? Kenya is the most developed country in eastern Africa.
A friend of mine at Verizon worked in Kenya back in the mid-2000s setting up wireless relays. It's not the backwater you're imagining in your head. Kenya has
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Not only that, but the constitution they ratified in 2008 is one of the best in the world. Unless a lode of rare earth metals is discovered there and another round of colonialism ensues, Kenya will do very will in the coming decades.
Re:Yes it is (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, I can point it on the map just fine! It's where Obama was born, right?
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Excuse me, friend, but before you start making proclamations about how you behave in "the forum" maybe you should be here a little bit longer than 16 hours.
Going off half-cocked and poorly informed is a grand tradition here at Slashdot. Maybe when you're not quite so wet behind the ears you'll learn how to behave when you're new to a community.
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Excuse me, friend, I'd rather see a post telling other people to do some damn research.
Especially compared to one trying to use some sort of faux social conformity pressure to imply they are somehow behaving badly for doing so.
Regards.
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If it is good enough to run flash, I would say it definitely qualifies as a smartphone.
My Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz Macbook Pro wasn't good enough to run Flash :D
Sounds like one up on the iPhone though ;D
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My Core 2 Duo 2.16 GHz Macbook Pro wasn't good enough to run Flash :D
I'm going to have to call BS on that.
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Re:It's not a bad phone (Score:5, Funny)
With its low-end hardware, this thing barely qualifies as a smartphone.
Strange. You speak so confidently, and yet with such complete ignorance.
I actually have one of these phones. Based on available evidence, not only is it most certainly a smartphone, it's also considerably smarter than you.
Re:It's not a bad phone (Score:5, Informative)
My company does localization of Android phones for local distributors. Currently on my desk are a Nexus One, Nexus S, two Ideos phones, an Ideos X5 and an Ideos X3. This does not include non-active phones I have at home. Of this set, by far, the lowest speced and weakest phone is the Ideos, of which I have two, because it is an active project. Because it is an active project, my SIM card is in one of the IDEOS phones, and it has been my main phone for several months now.
I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, that while the phone IS, in fact, slower than the rest of them, and its screen IS quite inferior, it is definitely a useable (and useful) smart phone. Your criticism is simply without merit.
Shachar
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Re-reading my previous reply, it may not have been clear. The two Ideos phones are the U8150 sold in Kenya. In addition to them, I have a U8800 (Ideos X5) and a U8510 (Ideos X3).
Shachar
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DOS-era VGA at 320x240 doesn't exist. There is either the black-white resolution (720x348), or the CGA-resolution (640x200 two color, 320x200 four color), both in EGA again, but this time 16 colors, native EGA (640x350) and VGA (640x480). QVGA (Quarter VGA) actually has 320x240 resolution, but this one was defined much later, for... tada!... mobile devices.
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How do you define a smartphone...
I think he means: "Something that people with lower status than him shouldn't be allowed to own."
Google account required? (Score:3)
1. Do you require a Google account in order to use/initialize your Android phone?
If so, that would seem to present some difficulties for Kenya, or is that not required for certain countries?
2. Is the Google account locked into the phone, so that only that one user can (reasonably) use it? I mean, you can't have a scenario where different people can "log" into an Android phone, can you?
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You need a Google account for Google services (market, gmail etc) but can set one up from the phone.
But doesn't one need another, already working mobile phone to verify a Gmail account [google.com]? Or do the Google apps for Android handle that?
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SMS works before the google services are setup. This is only needed if you use two factor anyway. You can use the phone without any google services if you really wanted.
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Android 3.x Market has a combobox on top to switch accounts, the same way the Talk client allows multiple accounts, I expect that those features will be on Android Icecream
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> 1. Do you require a Google account in order to use/initialize your Android phone?
On my T-Mobile Pulse Mini Pink (how secure am *I*!?), it asked for google username and gave the option to create one. I chose not to, but doing so made the phone almost useless (IMO), since I couldn't use the contacts application (I didn't try much else). I think it is sort of the point that you should use it with Google services - it's not like a Symbian phone where it's designed to be a stand-alone system. I suppose this
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> I chose not to, but doing so made the phone almost useless (IMO), since I couldn't use the contacts application (I didn't try much else).
Erm, that's nuts. Does the contacts app then upload your contacts to Google for Calender, etc., synch?
>I'm not sure why you think this provides difficulties for Kenya (or people therein) more than anywhere else...care to enlighten?
Well, the fact is Kenya's not Korea in in terms of Internet access. Here's hoping they catch up.
Secondly, an account requires a password
Re:Google account required? (Score:5, Informative)
People in Kenya aren't just getting started with mobile telephony. Getting smart phones may be a little newer for many but many, many people have been using cell phones for a while. A password is not a big issue. In fact they are already used to being more secure with their phones as many people have been using services like M-PESA to pay bills and store funds. In a number of ways the typical Kenyan is more mobile phone savvy than the average American.
Wouldn't be hard (not flamebait) (Score:3)
Kenyans...when the UK went decimal currency with much moaning and groaning, a retired District Inspector explained how Kenya went metric. The DIs went down the market early with new sets of weights and measures, conversion charts and handouts. They sat down with the
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> Does the contacts app then upload your contacts to Google for Calender, etc., synch?
I chose not to enter an account, so, no, it didn't; but I suppose that's what would happen if I had.
> Well, the fact is Kenya's not Korea in in terms of Internet access. Here's hoping they catch up.
Fair enough about internet access (while *nowhere* is Korea in [in] terms of Internet access) - though I had heard that most people use their phones (Nokia, mostly) for internet access in such countries, so perhaps it fits
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> while *nowhere* is Korea in [in] terms of Internet access
One would expect Korea to be Korea, I'd say.
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You must be new here!
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One would expect Korea to be Korea, I'd say.
Only in Soviet Russia!
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Well, the fact is Kenya's not Korea in in terms of Internet access. Here's hoping they catch up.
Do you have firsthand knowledge of this? When I volunteered in Ghana (which is more well-developed than Kenya, but not by much), most mid-size villages of about 500 or more people had Internet access. No, it wasn't spectacularly fast or reliable, but for $0.75 you could spend an hour online. Anyone with enough income to spend $80 on a phone can likely also afford to go online for long enough to set up whatever they need.
Then there's the mobile network itself. Ghana's cellular coverage was more widespread th
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No offense meant, bro.
It's good that the villages in Kenya are getting on the Internet. I wasn't playing into the stereotype of Africa being totally uncivilized, but rather recognizing the problems of less-developed countries.
And wondering whether Google requires sending/receiving a flurry of packets every time you so much as look at your phone.
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You CAN use your phone without a Google account, but that requires you do a lot of work setting it up yourself, with a replacement contacts app, replacement app store, replacement maps provider etc.
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IMO, that falls into the definition of "CAN'T".
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IMO, that falls into the definition of "CAN'T".
No, it falls into the definition of CAN but you're on your own. Google apps are preinstalled. If you want to use something else you can go hunt for the replacements.
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Like I said, *IMO* it falls into the definition of "CAN'T".
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I'd agree that not many people would be inclined to do this (the power of the default etc.) but it's eminently doable. You CAN do it and people do do it.
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What about Cyanogen and the homebrew crowd? Do they have a solution for this?
I mean, phones had contact applications (they even synced with your computer) before Google wanted you to enter your info into the Borg.
Even cheap Nokias have/had POP email without forcing you into a particular company's mail system.
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Please tell me you're joking or just uninformed. Sideloading the Amazon app store couldn't get easier [amazon.com].
1) Go to Amazon, give them your mobile number.
2) Open device settings, click Applications.
3) Make sure "Unknown sources" is checked.
4) If it wasn't acknowledge the "Attention" dialog box.
5) Check for the SMS from Amazon
6) Open the link to download the app.
7) Open notifications and click the app.
8) Click install.
9) Open the app.
10) Sign in.
So... I don't know that it "couldn't get easier". I think it's fairly easy for me, but I wouldn't want to imagine my Mom trying to do all that.
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Replacement market. But the other are optional. I don't know where you people get the idea that you can't use the phone's contact list or even google maps / navigation without signing into a google account.
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My experience is: you can use an android phone (galazy tab) without a login to google, also the contacts and the calendar work. But everything which is synchronization is a pain in the ass because it relies on the google account and the built-in support keeps market alternatives a little bit down.
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curious...contacts definitely didn't work on my Pink. I think that's running 2.1 or something (I forget)...what was your experience gained on?
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At least in theory it should be possible to install a different contact apps (without market access you would have to hunt down an APK for this on the web). The nice thing about Android is that every program can be replaced since all apps are abstracted: Lets say you install an emergency button widget and in the configuration you can select one phone number that should be called when the button gets pressed: That app would request a contacts selection dialog, normally that would come straight from Google's
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Ok, perhaps it is more 'accepted' to not have this sort of functionality 'out of the box' with Android. Fair enough. I might look into that. The 'emergency' button app is sort of interesting - that's basically want I want, ie I want this phone for visitors so they can call me very quickly.
I'm not too bothered about 'the experience' without Google - I accept that they can make it better by integrating it all. I just choose to not use their services, in this case.
Yeah, I know about being able to replace appli
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Oh, I'm not saying that I recommend this! I just meant that if you are in the unusual situation that you can't have / don't want a Google account but still want to use Android it is possible to do that, albeit dowdily.
It's safe to say that in most cases it only makes sense to buy an Android device if you also will use it with a Google account. I even advise everyone to NOT buy any Android devices that lack the standard Google apps (Mail, Talk and most importantly Market), since the experience will be much w
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Sorry if that wasn't clear from my first post.
Seems we are in agreement then. What site is this? Odd, anyway.
FWIW, it was attempted to get this 'completely replace app' functionality into MeeGo/Harmattan too. I'm not 100% sure how successful those attempts were, but what was done should be there on the Nokia N9 (soon) and Nokia N950 (already here for the chosen few). I was keen on this because the apps are usually the only bits that are closed source and so are not (easily) fixable by anyone other than the manufacturer (in this case Nokia) and their mo
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On my T-Mobile Pulse Mini Pink (how secure am *I*!?), it asked for google username and gave the option to create one. I chose not to, but doing so made the phone almost useless (IMO), since I couldn't use the contacts application (I didn't try much else).
Hmm. My 2.2 phone works fine without a google account. You lose certain features (online contacts sync, obviously, is one of them), but basic management of contacts is fine. Could be this is a flaw with earlier versions that's now fixed?
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Could be this is a flaw with earlier versions that's now fixed?
I was wondering that. It sounds possible. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt there'll be any update for the Pink :/
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You can still sync your contacts with activesync and i think carddav servers too.
Re:Is it for you/ (Score:2)
1. Do you require a Google account in order to use/initialize your Android phone?
Do you? I don't. Never have. Using a Google account gave you access to various optional extras such as syncing your calendar and your contact list, accessing gmail, and downloading items from the Google Marketplace. Beyond that having a Google account is completely optional for the full function of your phone, even doing Google searches and using Maps / Navigation.
As for initializing the phone, what's that? Is that something that prevents you using a phone without doing something first like hooking it to a
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>As for initializing the phone, what's that?
Well, Apple makes you have a iTunes account before you can start using your iPhone, right?
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1. Do you require a Google account in order to use/initialize your Android phone?
As a user in the US, I can only speak about the Original Droid (which is the only phone I don't mind factory resetting to see what happens).
To initialize the phone, no. To use the phone, no. To use Google Maps, no (although, I still get the message login failed, the message is not intrusive in the least, and I can still use Google Maps).
To use the Market, yes (although, I can still install apps through the web if I tick a check-box in the settings).
If so, that would seem to present some difficulties for Kenya, or is that not required for certain countries?
So Kenyans would be able to use the phone, yes, but would t
hotcakes? (Score:2)
Are they popular in Kenya? I wouldn't have thought so...
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Can you name a single hotcake multination corporation?
Selling "like hotcakes" is apparently like selling "reasonably well, but not a lot".
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Are we making fun of hungry kenyans now?
No, but I'll make fun of that awful bland corn-mash that passes for regular food in Kenya.
You'd think anything that is not ugali would sell well. No wonder they are so skinny.
what kind of data plans do they have there? (Score:2)
Never mind the phone cost; the cost of data, if billed at U.S. rates, would be something only a fairly small percentage of the Kenyan population could afford. Do they have much lower data rates?
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There are a lot of services that don't require a data plan. Google has been one player that has developed services that rely only on SMS.
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The marginal cost of US infrastructure is actually higher, since both labor and land cost more in the US.
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I would guess they wouldn't bill at US rates :
http://misterfix.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/yu-kenya-internet-data-bundles-pricing/ [wordpress.com]
It seems like 1000KSHS is about 10USD - of course, I've not too much idea about cost of living there, so it's not very easy to compare.
I found this too : "Mobile data subscriptions account for 99 percent of all Internet access in Kenya"
http://www.ictworks.org/news/2011/07/14/mobile-data-subscriptions-account-99-percent-all-internet-access-kenya [ictworks.org]
Next up -- Revolution ! (Score:3)
An example of horrific Kenyan police abuse is captured on video and quickly spreads through a young population with internet enabled phones.
Youth violently riot -- demanding better opportunities for themselves.
Army moves in -- thousands die. President is toppled.
Likely scenario?
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Maybe, but it would be a fluke. Kenya is not on the "5 years, 7 countries" list of the US.
Ignorant bastards (Score:4, Informative)
I am Kenyan and am actually updating this using a Netbook tethered to an IDEOS.
Most of the people commenting here are apparently very ignorant.
1) Most people are not as poor as Western media always make us to be. They only show poor people in sad situation but obviously as a growing country there is a growing Middle income who are the target of cheaper affordable smartphone.
2) $2 is quite a sum(actually = Ksh 200). The living cost are not as high as in US or Europe so stop making comparisons using your worldview as a yardstick.
3) IDEOS is brilliant idea.
BTW the iphone cost Ksh 100,000 ($1000), Galaxy S ksh 36000 ($370)
These phone are only available to the rich.
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With a summary like that... (Score:2)
...you don't even have to RTFA to realize that it's not a news item but a press release.
The smartphone is the exemplar of a truly liberating device, and thanks to Android and Huawei, it has the potential to reach virtually untapped markets.
At least disguise the PR language to make it look like real journalism guys!
why is it so popular? (Score:2)
(someone had to say it
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It's Kenya, not Nigeria, you insensitive clod!
Do they have high cost 2 year data + voice lockins (Score:2)
Do they have high cost 2 year data + voice lock ins? where to get out of them you have to pay like $200-$400 for the phone.
Nice Picture (Score:5, Informative)
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Parent - NOT Funny, It's true +1 Insightful (Score:2)
Come on mods, did you even RTFA? Parent is correct.
Nice catch, scdeimos. Did you use the Google similar image search or what?
In Zimbabwe (Score:2)
On a side note, huawei has several inexpensive android phones. My kids each have a huawei ascend that I paid $99USD for, and MetroPCS sells a huawei M835 for $79usd. Both are "no contract" prices.
Sure, the ascend are slower than my droid2 global since they only run at 600Mhz; but they're definitely usable. I'd call them a bargain at those prices.
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It's been shown that putting cell phones in the hands of people in developing countries is a way to really improve their well being. I'd say that this is much better than sending over water or food.
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The article lists a number of applications that would be very beneficial to the people who receive them, from medical apps to those which improve agricultural productivity (precision agriculture.)
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So this is just well off Kenians buying the latest trendy phone. Nothing to see here. In fact, chances are that the 350k phon
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I'm on my way out the door - but google something along the lines of "developing world mobile coverage". Cell phones have been a huge boon to the developing world and are making a huge difference in improving people's lives. It's really an exciting thing to watch. I think it's also a big driver in why we'll see mobile access of the web eclipse pc usage.
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Maybe you should try to ask them or people who work with them what they do with their smartphones. If they have even 2G internet connectivity, it's not like they'd be able to, oh, I don't know, find markets for their goods, or send messages to family members and colleagues that, say, they have a customer for something that's back at home or such. What do you do with your basic electronic communications?
BTW, if 40% of Kenyans earn less than $2 a day, 60% are making more. And while I'm suspicious of trickle-d
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That is a good reason to buy Android!
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(Seriously, does the author really believe an app to help farmers sell their stuff couldn't have been developed on iOS or Windows or Blackberry? Come on!)
It could be done but i suspect it would have more difficult.
Apple would not have liked it it it would hurt the iPhone image and banned it wanting 30 percent commission on sales. Who can feel exclusive owning a phone that poor people in Kenya can afford.
They probably didn't do it in C++ but native development could overcome the poor specs on the phone.
If the government and china subsided the phone towers, limit coverage and they are still on standard 3g and allowing it to be operate a marginal loss then you
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>>I'd have been interested in learning how these people making less than $2/day are paying for cell service, for one thing.
They're not. Probably. Though it hasn't stopped some idiots on here claiming Google is evil for taking away these poor peoples' water and food.
There's 10 million people with cell phones in Kenya. While this sort of takes away from the breathless "Android is the new Gods Must Be Crazy" theme of the article, there's actually a large telecommunications industry in Kenya.
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You're an ignorant cunt, but at least you're a slashdot faithful who didn't bother to RTFA. Of course they could develop apps for iOS in Africa, and in fact they do, but an iPhone costs a fuck of a lot more than a cheap Chinese Android device does. Developing for Android is also free.
As for how they pay for their phones, do a bit of reading. Google it.
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Why single out the $80 Android phone for its Chinese origin? It is not as if the fruit company has its phones made somewhere else after all. This reasonable priced Anrdoid phone is made by Huawei [wikipedia.org] (the largest Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer ATW) while Cupertino sends its manufacturing orders to Foxconn [wikipedia.org]. I have not heard much about bad things happening at Huawei's manufacturing plants, but that does not mean m
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>Developing for Android is also free.
Well, don't you have to pay $25?
Or, maybe, that's only if you want to be listed on the Android Market?
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Aside from the much lower price of the phone compared to Apple and RIM products, there is the issue of the plan. If people in the developing world could afford the all-you-can-eat plans like we can in the US and Europe, then price would not be an issue because they would just get phones 'on contract'
The majority of phones sold in these situations are on pay-per-use plans. They get a good deal per megabyte and they use way less. Given the low cost of the plan, the upfront cost of the phone can be a major det
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The stupid, it burns.
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We do you fucktard, just not in telecommunications because we have more important things to worry about.
Re:Africans are idiots. (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, they tried when people were peddling import substitution. Then they realized that it was costing a whole lot of money, that what was being made was of poorer quality and more expensive than what was available abroad. And the whole world eventually learned good economics and saw that it was not a good idea to try to manufacture everything at home. So, now, people in Africa are quite happy to buy what the Chinese sell them and actually put their resources to good use. Which means that they typically don't try to create their own technology.
Neither do the Chinese by the way. Most of the heavy lifting in still done in other countries (primarily USA and Europe). The Chinese still by and large take existing designs and build them to order, assemble things that were manufactured elsewhere, and make shoddy copies that are touted as great innovations for nationalistic purposes (the Loongson CPU for instance).
To be fair they're trying to move up the value chain. They've been spending a lot on R&D, but we'll have to see how that translates into results that can be profitably put on the market. But they're still very far from the technological frontier. They're having a good run with catch-up growth and it's smart to prepare for the future but, for now, China's comparative advantage will still be manufacturing for the foreseeable future. I'm skeptical that China's current political environment can sustain the kind of dynamics that are very useful to get innovation. Somehow it doesn't seem very conducive to innovation to have to worry about what the Thought Police thinks you're up to, to have to deal with bureaucrats and a very top-down style of economic policy, not to be able to freely communicate with others (including foreigners) or move about your own country, etc.
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On the other hand, China has the benefits of long term planning, large pop
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>Has anyone tried selling hotcakes to people in Kenya? It seems as if they would sell as well as $80 Android handsets.
Funny you mention that. Fayaz Bakers [fayazbakers.com] in downtown Mombasa sells hotcakes, and they're flying off the shelves like Android handsets.