If Nokia Valued The African Consumer, Why Launch Dumb Phones Here?

I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa I hear that 8 Nokia executives were in Nairobi “to listen to African consumer’. They were also here to launch the two phones, Nokia 100/101, which are single and dual-sim respectively. The last time Nokia executives were here was sometime in June 2010<http://techmtaa.com/2010/06/03/nokia-launches-4-budget-phones-and-bicycle-charger-for-emerging-markets/> when they ended up even launching an innovation which they stole for some smart young Kenyans. So today the 8 wolves came back and this time they claimed that the “Nokia 101 & X1-01 were conceptualized in Nokia research centre in Nairobi”. So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then. During the June[image: June reviews]<http://www.blippr.com/music/songs/375081-June> 2010 launch, the 4 low-budget phones unveiled were suppose to be available in this market early enough. Most of the phones just arrived in this market this year or in November[image: November reviews]<http://www.blippr.com/music/songs/458002-November> 2010. And I wonder why Nokia has this mentality that Africans[image: Africans reviews] <http://www.blippr.com/music/songs/374832-Africans> are some primitive, skin covered know-nothings whose best technology can only be some dumb phones which are priced 3 times as expensive as their counterparts from other manufacturers. Who advises Nokia on such? Can’t we see Nokia launch the E or N series phones in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Cairo[image: Cairo reviews] <http://www.blippr.com/music/songs/492734-Cairo> or even Bamako? Are Africans just backward to Nokia? If you heard some of the MCs Nokia had to make look African here<http://ihub.co.ke/downloads/mary_mcdowell_fireside_chat_at_ihub_nairobi.mp3> talk about Africa[image: Africa reviews]<http://www.blippr.com/music/songs/366685-Africa> like it is one country. We can vouch for technology as one continent but Africans are not living in stone age and don’t need any favours from anyone. If Nokia was to take the continent serious, it would address the market problems like offering operator billing like they do in New Zealand, UK and other parts of Europe. Just today, the Daily Telegraph reported<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mobile-phones/8720668/Operator-billing-doubles-app-sales.html> how operator billing has doubled up apps sales in UK. We have cheaper dual-sim phones from the OEM vendors like Tecno, TechCom and Zedd Mobile. Their prices range from Ksh 2,500 to Ksh 4,600 which is cheap compared to the Ksh 3,000 to Ksh 8,000 range for Nokia *Dabo Dabo* phones. The Ksh 4,500 TechCom and Zedd Mobile phones are great and match the Ksh 12,000 Nokia smartphones like X2. Nokia is nowadays selling a name. Nokia is basically the Barclays Bank of mobile phone in Kenya[image: Kenya reviews]<http://www.blippr.com/music/albums/476431-Kenya>. Tecno, TechCom and Zedd Mobile are the Equity to the African consumer. I wont bet on Nokia giving African serious though if not only to dump the 2003 technology into the market. Nothing is innovative on the phones and they are much dangerous to out environment than any others. The technology used to make them is more than a decade old.

The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue. On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa

Actually in my opinion, its time we africans stopped ranting about not being given this and that and get busy working for ways around it and come up with something useful for ourselves. But our self low esteem and wanting too much out of too little is what has been eating us since the time of our forefathers and unless we do something about it, this is going to be our song for eternity, if sth like that does exist. On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:47 PM, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue.
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Solomon Kariri, Software Developer, Cell: +254736 729 450 Skype: solomonkariri

I personally love Nokia and blackberry too. their phones are Hardy,mostly work as advertised and easy to use. their attitude towards African or rather Kenyan consumers is rather disheartening though. its almost like they expect us to take anything they produce because they are Nokia and they said so. the best way to show that we have options is to go the Chinese or Japanese route. The much publicized ideot can do everything a blackberry or high end Nokia can. Why is this so at such a price point? Does it mean this is the actual cost of the device and the rest is just markup. On 9/2/11, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue.
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa
-- Regards, Mark Mwangi http://mwangy.posterous.com

My two cents, I don't buy this argument. Is nokia a business or a charity? If you were selling a smartphone, would you launch it in a continent where only 12% use the internet and 70% can't afford it anyway? By 'launching' a low cost dumb phone does it mean I'm discriminating? What content will that 40 year old illiterate man in Bungoma or Machakos be looking for online anyway? Have we provided it yet?Nokia is just being real. I suggest we do the same too. On 9/3/11, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I personally love Nokia and blackberry too. their phones are Hardy,mostly work as advertised and easy to use. their attitude towards African or rather Kenyan consumers is rather disheartening though.
its almost like they expect us to take anything they produce because they are Nokia and they said so.
the best way to show that we have options is to go the Chinese or Japanese route.
The much publicized ideot can do everything a blackberry or high end Nokia can. Why is this so at such a price point? Does it mean this is the actual cost of the device and the rest is just markup.
On 9/2/11, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue.
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

If anything, choosing to launch dumb phones in Nokia's part is only poor business strategy. Nothing more. Google on the other hand is spending money on projects like wazi wifi...good business strategy. Maybe explains why one is on the rise and the other on the decline. On 9/3/11, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
My two cents, I don't buy this argument. Is nokia a business or a charity? If you were selling a smartphone, would you launch it in a continent where only 12% use the internet and 70% can't afford it anyway? By 'launching' a low cost dumb phone does it mean I'm discriminating? What content will that 40 year old illiterate man in Bungoma or Machakos be looking for online anyway? Have we provided it yet?Nokia is just being real. I suggest we do the same too.
On 9/3/11, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I personally love Nokia and blackberry too. their phones are Hardy,mostly work as advertised and easy to use. their attitude towards African or rather Kenyan consumers is rather disheartening though.
its almost like they expect us to take anything they produce because they are Nokia and they said so.
the best way to show that we have options is to go the Chinese or Japanese route.
The much publicized ideot can do everything a blackberry or high end Nokia can. Why is this so at such a price point? Does it mean this is the actual cost of the device and the rest is just markup.
On 9/2/11, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue.
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

I think it's a gross mistake And very patronising to assume that majority of the population can not afford and if they could, can not use the internet. reminds us of those mobile operators who said Africans can not afford 3G and even have no use for it. You may conclude by telling us Africa is a jungle where people live on trees. -- with Regards: blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>

A strategic focus on "Feature phones" rather than "Smart phones" is nothing to disparage Nokia for, my only issue with the recent 100 & 101 release is the fact that it has no browser access. I think that locks out the group of users who are beginning to make the leap from purely voice users to data users. This users, though not a majority, represent the next battle field for revenues within the telcos, and as such they should not be ignored. Also given the fact that the S30 operating system is quite old, I'm curious as to how long Nokia will support it before dropping it. On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 12:27 PM, Dennis Kioko <dmbuvi@gmail.com> wrote:
I think it's a gross mistake And very patronising to assume that majority of the population can not afford and if they could, can not use the internet. reminds us of those mobile operators who said Africans can not afford 3G and even have no use for it. You may conclude by telling us Africa is a jungle where people live on trees.
-- with Regards:
blog.denniskioko.com <http://www.denniskioko.com/>
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- John Wesonga

Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses! Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa. This is a HUGE market with unique needs. In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.

I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it. My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result. Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation. That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing. On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards, Mark Mwangi http://mwangy.posterous.com

Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here. The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves. I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising. Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great. On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna. Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store... On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:- - CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive - 50% representation in parliament by scientists & engineers (very very remote possibility this...but still possible) After that we can start planning on the kind of industrialization that allows for mass manufacture locally _______________________________________________ *Good judgement comes from Experience.* *Most Experience comes from Bad Judgement * _______________________________________________ * * 2011/9/3 Maux <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>
Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna.
Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store...
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
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On this note isnt it good then that we continue being consumers of cheap gadgets from the west? Didn't we borrow the constitution, the roads design and other things from the west and east? I think .ke is just doing fine. Well done Kenyans, now some cheap phones we cant even engineer are being launched in our motherland. Well done our tech people, well done, nkt! Peter On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 5:12 PM, James Nzomo <kazikubwa@gmail.com> wrote:
"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:-
- CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive

We are ranting about decisions made by foreign firms that are just doing what nokia research africa told them is the best model for the time. so the problem back fires on our description of what is best for us. On 03/09/2011, James Nzomo <kazikubwa@gmail.com> wrote:
"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:-
- CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive - 50% representation in parliament by scientists & engineers (very very remote possibility this...but still possible)
After that we can start planning on the kind of industrialization that allows for mass manufacture locally
_______________________________________________
*Good judgement comes from Experience.* *Most Experience comes from Bad Judgement * _______________________________________________ *
*
2011/9/3 Maux <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>
Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna.
Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store...
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Solomon Kariri, Software Developer, Cell: +254736 729 450 Skype: solomonkariri

Clearly this topic engenders quite a bit of emotion. Nokia have always adopted a pretty wide marketing approach when it comes to the market. And the decisions they make are based on numbers on the ground. So it's all well and good to argue passionately about having 'dumb' phones pushed to 'ignorant' Africans. The fact remains however that there is a demand for such devices and Nokia has positioned themselves to address this demand. On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 6:17 PM, solomon kariri <solomonkariri@gmail.com>wrote:
We are ranting about decisions made by foreign firms that are just doing what nokia research africa told them is the best model for the time. so the problem back fires on our description of what is best for us.
On 03/09/2011, James Nzomo <kazikubwa@gmail.com> wrote:
"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:-
- CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive - 50% representation in parliament by scientists & engineers (very very remote possibility this...but still possible)
After that we can start planning on the kind of industrialization that allows for mass manufacture locally
_______________________________________________
*Good judgement comes from Experience.* *Most Experience comes from Bad Judgement * _______________________________________________ *
*
2011/9/3 Maux <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>
Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna.
Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store...
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote:
Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses!
Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones for. Calls. SMS. MPesa.
This is a HUGE market with unique needs.
In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector.
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Solomon Kariri,
Software Developer, Cell: +254736 729 450 Skype: solomonkariri _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation. - Aristotle

I find no fault with Nokia, All their models especially the low end that we require for mobile phone penetration are in the market. I don't expect them to cost as low as China phones do because they offer better returns in terms of longevity. Folks who have bought Chinese phones for their cheapness are now adding the extra 1 or 2K for a Nokia. Have you not gone to your shags and heard of the praises they sing of the brand and how its till death do them apart. In toyota land (central kenya) nokia is the default phone. It does not make business sense to launch Nokia smart phones here, at least not the high end ones. If they can come up with an ideos type one, fine. But even so, I think the Ideos is subsidized by Safcom? We are still very much cost driven. Regards, On Mon, Sep 5, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Samuel Mbugua <samuel.mbugua@gmail.com>wrote:
Clearly this topic engenders quite a bit of emotion.
Nokia have always adopted a pretty wide marketing approach when it comes to the market. And the decisions they make are based on numbers on the ground. So it's all well and good to argue passionately about having 'dumb' phones pushed to 'ignorant' Africans. The fact remains however that there is a demand for such devices and Nokia has positioned themselves to address this demand.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 6:17 PM, solomon kariri <solomonkariri@gmail.com>wrote:
We are ranting about decisions made by foreign firms that are just doing what nokia research africa told them is the best model for the time. so the problem back fires on our description of what is best for us.
On 03/09/2011, James Nzomo <kazikubwa@gmail.com> wrote:
"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:-
- CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive - 50% representation in parliament by scientists & engineers (very very remote possibility this...but still possible)
After that we can start planning on the kind of industrialization that allows for mass manufacture locally
_______________________________________________
*Good judgement comes from Experience.* *Most Experience comes from Bad Judgement * _______________________________________________ *
*
2011/9/3 Maux <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>
Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna.
Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store...
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use for it.
My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he is happier and more productive as a result.
Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it is has swooped in to save the situation.
That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly what they are doing.
On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote: > Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on their > phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile telephony > in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses! > > Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones > for. > Calls. SMS. MPesa. > > This is a HUGE market with unique needs. > > In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked > smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector. >
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Solomon Kariri,
Software Developer, Cell: +254736 729 450 Skype: solomonkariri _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation. - Aristotle
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke

And the reason africa is looked at as one market is because it simply is to the rest of the world. Look at the annual reports of any company and see that our revenues are lumped up as one region. Its good for transfer pricing and avoiding taxes. Plus the revenues from the two phones in the entire africa justifies it being looked at as one market. On Mon, Sep 5, 2011 at 11:49 AM, george < theonlydamnedavailablename@gmail.com> wrote:
I find no fault with Nokia,
All their models especially the low end that we require for mobile phone penetration are in the market. I don't expect them to cost as low as China phones do because they offer better returns in terms of longevity. Folks who have bought Chinese phones for their cheapness are now adding the extra 1 or 2K for a Nokia.
Have you not gone to your shags and heard of the praises they sing of the brand and how its till death do them apart. In toyota land (central kenya) nokia is the default phone.
It does not make business sense to launch Nokia smart phones here, at least not the high end ones. If they can come up with an ideos type one, fine. But even so, I think the Ideos is subsidized by Safcom? We are still very much cost driven.
Regards,
On Mon, Sep 5, 2011 at 8:38 AM, Samuel Mbugua <samuel.mbugua@gmail.com>wrote:
Clearly this topic engenders quite a bit of emotion.
Nokia have always adopted a pretty wide marketing approach when it comes to the market. And the decisions they make are based on numbers on the ground. So it's all well and good to argue passionately about having 'dumb' phones pushed to 'ignorant' Africans. The fact remains however that there is a demand for such devices and Nokia has positioned themselves to address this demand.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 6:17 PM, solomon kariri <solomonkariri@gmail.com>wrote:
We are ranting about decisions made by foreign firms that are just doing what nokia research africa told them is the best model for the time. so the problem back fires on our description of what is best for us.
On 03/09/2011, James Nzomo <kazikubwa@gmail.com> wrote:
"So? We are suppose to celebrate for that? They should have been manufactured here then." Our nation is currently incapable of large scale manufacturing to the desired scale...until the following conditions are met:-
- CHEAP CONSTANT RELIABLE power supply (currently only nuclear power and a *COMPETENT KPLC* can do this ) - Initiation of education programs to foster a new generation of engineers - from an early age. - Hi speed - reliable - mass transport (e.g. bullet trains) to take the workforce to where they are most productive - 50% representation in parliament by scientists & engineers (very very remote possibility this...but still possible)
After that we can start planning on the kind of industrialization that allows for mass manufacture locally
_______________________________________________
*Good judgement comes from Experience.* *Most Experience comes from Bad Judgement * _______________________________________________ *
*
2011/9/3 Maux <mauxdatabase@gmail.com>
Wow last time I checked Nokia has the widest range of phones of any manufacturer out there. I think the 100,101 are targeting a specific market niche that they have identified. I am sure they have an IDEOS killer in the works which will probably be based on Symbian Anna.
Don't forget they have tonnes of Kenyan apps in the ovi store...
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 3:48 PM, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
Lest my statements be taken out of context, let me add a few rejoiners here.
The argument as to whether 70% of kenya can afford smartphones or not or whether someone who's monthly budget is ksh4,000 will choose to allow his son to utilize 10% of it streaming porn or the latest Fally Ipupa video is one I choose not to go into today. Let's save it for another day, or better yet, let the facts speak for themselves.
I do not mean to say that people in the rural areas have no use for the internet, I mean to say there is little content on the net that is directly relevant for folks in rural Africa. Sure there are folks like Mwangi's old man and apps like mfarm and medkenya but these are the exception, not the rule. If saying this makes me patronising,then I am patronising.
Now, the heart of the matter is, Nokia looked at the facts and decided to launch 'cheap' dumb phones.= dumb strategy in my opinion, and going back to my earlier comparison with google, google looked at the facts and decided to partner with the local organisations to improve access to affordable internet and develop relevant content. Their business case being that once these unreached people come online, the payoff will be worth the investment, = smart strategy in my opinion. Now expecting Nokia to do the same just because we happen to live in Africa is naive in my opinion. Almost like subconciously expecting some sort of affirmative action. After all, we have so many options in the market now. Nokia is here to make money, so is google and any other company for that matter. How they choose to do it is what makes some companies great and some not so great.
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 1:35 PM, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
> I find it quite condescending and patronizing to assume a forty year > old farmer who has not used a smartphone before has no possible use > for it. > > My old man uses a GPS phone to calculate rough acreage of a Shamba he > has been Contracted to farm or bale hay or whatever. He cares not if > it is running android or symbian but it solves a real problem. He had > issues with losing contacts or running out of space to store numbers. > Now they back up online. How it happens is irrelevant to him, but he > is happier and more productive as a result. > > Twinsims are not new tech but it is possible it is true they were > refining their tech to serve rural folk. The problem is the sweeping > statements of Kenyans being dirt poor and Nokia being the saviour it > is has swooped in to save the situation. > > That being said am sure they have done their research and know exactly > what they are doing. > > > On 9/3/11, Rad! <conradakunga@gmail.com> wrote: > > Folks, not everyone surfs facebook and uses twitter and reads blogs on > their > > phones! Disabuse yourselves of the notion that the usage of mobile > telephony > > in the yuppie generation is representative of the masses! > > > > Go up country and find out what folks there are using their phones > > for. > > Calls. SMS. MPesa. > > > > This is a HUGE market with unique needs. > > > > In fact if i were Nokia i would stop fooling around with half baked > > smartphones and concentrate entirely on this sector. > > > > > -- > Regards, > > Mark Mwangi > > http://mwangy.posterous.com > _______________________________________________ > Skunkworks mailing list > Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke > http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks > ------------ > Skunkworks Rules > http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 > ------------ > Other services @ http://my.co.ke >
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-- Solomon Kariri,
Software Developer, Cell: +254736 729 450 Skype: solomonkariri _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Where the needs of the world and your talents cross, there lies your vocation. - Aristotle
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Sent from my Voice Recognition Watch© -------------------------------------------------------------------- Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,but that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.As we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear,our presence automatically liberates others.

@JohnDoe The 40 year old in Bungoma can watch joel osteen, look at youtube videos and best of all surf porn That's just a start Soon, they will find mfarm, medkenya, ushahidi and all these projects we are working on The 40 year old man may have kids who can use his smartphone and credo My two cents On 9/3/11, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
If anything, choosing to launch dumb phones in Nokia's part is only poor business strategy. Nothing more. Google on the other hand is spending money on projects like wazi wifi...good business strategy. Maybe explains why one is on the rise and the other on the decline.
On 9/3/11, John Doe <fivepings@gmail.com> wrote:
My two cents, I don't buy this argument. Is nokia a business or a charity? If you were selling a smartphone, would you launch it in a continent where only 12% use the internet and 70% can't afford it anyway? By 'launching' a low cost dumb phone does it mean I'm discriminating? What content will that 40 year old illiterate man in Bungoma or Machakos be looking for online anyway? Have we provided it yet?Nokia is just being real. I suggest we do the same too.
On 9/3/11, Mark Mwangi <mwangy@gmail.com> wrote:
I personally love Nokia and blackberry too. their phones are Hardy,mostly work as advertised and easy to use. their attitude towards African or rather Kenyan consumers is rather disheartening though.
its almost like they expect us to take anything they produce because they are Nokia and they said so.
the best way to show that we have options is to go the Chinese or Japanese route.
The much publicized ideot can do everything a blackberry or high end Nokia can. Why is this so at such a price point? Does it mean this is the actual cost of the device and the rest is just markup.
On 9/2/11, Peter Osotsi <peter.osotsi@gmail.com> wrote:
The problem with Alai is that sometimes he comes off as very raw and hence crowd out any reasoning someone would have engaged in. But I fully concur with him on the Nokia issue.
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 5:30 PM, Kevin Omondi <kevin.ouma@gmail.com> wrote:
I really concur with this article by Robert Alai of Techmtaa
-- Regards,
Mark Mwangi
http://mwangy.posterous.com _______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
_______________________________________________ Skunkworks mailing list Skunkworks@lists.my.co.ke http://lists.my.co.ke/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/skunkworks ------------ Skunkworks Rules http://my.co.ke/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=94 ------------ Other services @ http://my.co.ke
-- Sent from my mobile device
participants (14)
-
Agosta Liko
-
Dennis Kioko
-
george
-
James Nzomo
-
John Doe
-
John Wesonga
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Joram Mwinamo
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Kevin Omondi
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Mark Mwangi
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Maux
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Peter Osotsi
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Rad!
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Samuel Mbugua
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solomon kariri