Alcatel Returns, Plans To Sell 24m Smartphones In 12 Months

By Chima Akwaja

Nigeria’s smartphone market is set to witness major boost as Alcatel Mobile, global phone manufacturer and one of the key players in the early days of GSM in Nigeria has returned to the market with a target to control 20 per cent of the smartphone market share in the next one year.

Presently, there are 10 million smartphones phones sold in Nigeria every month and about 120 million sold every year with most of the phones made in made in Asia. Alcatel is coming back with four new android smartphones namely POP Series C9, C7, C5 and Idol Mini phones which will compete in a smartphone market dominated by Asians especially Chinese phones.

The new smartphones, which will add to the list of jumbo phones that have taken over the phone market in Nigeria, were unveiled at a media briefing in Lagos. The entrant, Alcatel POP C9 is all about bringing a large screen and quad-core chip in an affordable package. It is a colorful plastic device coming in a range of colors (Bluish Black, Cherry Red, Full White, Hot Pink or Fresh Turquoise) and bearing a surprising similarity to Samsung’s Galaxy S III.

The POP C9, C7, C5 and Idol Mini run on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 operating system, 5.5” to 4.5” screens, 13 hrs to 20hrs talk time, Bluethooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi direct hotspot and 32GB micro SD car support, 1.3GHz quad-core chip, etc.

Mr Ikechukwu Ezeonyeka, operation director, GIOCAH Ventures, a major Alcatel distributor in Nigeria said the phones would be well accepted because of the pricing and all the additional features of a smartphone embedded in them. “The battery lives of these phones are long, and the designs are very attractive. I believe Nigerians will be happy with the products we have here”, he added.

He said the return of Alcatel android mobile phones to Nigeria is due to the key status Nigeria holds in Africa and Middle East mobile phone market. Alcatel phones are available and we are ready to fight for our share of the smartphone market, noting that the phone manufacturer will aim to control 20 per cent of the smartphone market within the next 12 months.

“After our investigation in Nigeria, we found that out of 100 million Nigerians use handsets and 60 million are smartphones. We are targeting 10 to 20 per cent of the Nigerian smartphone market. We hope to control a large part of the 10 million phones that are sold in Nigeria monthly. For Alcatel, the brand is known and meeting this is target is what we know how to do”, Ezeonyeka said. Alcatel Mobile Phones was established in 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent of France and TCL Communication of China.

Culled from http://leadership.ng