Samsung to drive content, apps for African market

1 Jun 2011

JOHANNESBURG: Samsung South Africa is implementing a new team structure to address the growing need for Android/BADA users and to cater with applications/content that suits their lifestyle needs and provides stronger mobile content for both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets respectively. The development coincides with the Apps World Series taking place in Cape Town, South Africa.

Worldwide mobile application store downloads are forecast to reach 17.7 billion downloads in 2011, a 117% increase from an estimated 8.2 billion downloads in 2010, according to Gartner*. By the end of 2014, Gartner forecast over 185 billion applications will have been downloaded from mobile app stores, since the launch of the first one in July 2008.

Says Paulo Ferreira, head of product and software solutions at Samsung; "New talent has been recruited to discover new ways to apply innovative technology and form a new content and apps team. This team will aggressively create and provide localised African content and apps for smartphone and tablet users and in turn contribute to the local software ecosystem. We have recognised the opportunity in the market, as highlighted by Gartner and others, to provide engaging and relevant content as smartphones are becoming more accessible to all Africans. In fact, in collaboration with Google's Android OS, we have made the smartphone available to most Africans by creating an affordable range of Android devices to suit just about anyone, young or old."

Smartphones, more than just cool and convenient devices

While providing the market with cost effective smartphone options is all good and well, it's important to educate the market to understand that smartphones and tablets are more than just cool and convenient devices, they also hold the potential to transform many industries.

Brett Loubser, B2C Apps Development Lead, adds; "Through this education and understanding Samsung aim to bridge the gap between the unique challenges and opportunities around innovative mobile applications, in Africa."

"As we look ahead, Samsung sees the opportunity to expand not only the breadth and depth of apps, but also how users interact with them, making it easy to discover and enjoy digital content across multiple devices. The potential of apps and content to change the landscape of Africa is boundless," states Adrian Lee, mobile content lead.

Samsung teamed up early this year with the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the Strathmore University in Kenya to provide a platform to foster an innovative atmosphere for mobile content development in Africa and move the most promising applications from prototype to commercially viable opportunities.

"Samsung's commitment to Africa extends far beyond market leadership towards being a contributing member to the African society and a supporter of regional development. Our Built in Africa, for Africa, by Africa strategy aims to create sustainable opportunities that empower people to live their dreams, and the creation of this 'dream team' is just another step in realising this goal," concludes Loubser.

*Forecast: Mobile Application Stores, Worldwide, 2008-2014, Gartner