The Huawei IDEOS (T-Mobile Comet here in the U.S.), is currently the most popular smartphone in Kenya, outselling all of its competitors in Q1 2011. The device was launched around Christmas of last year and sales have only been getting better since.
Huawei CEO Herman He said that the company is close to reaching the mark of 100,000 phones sold in Kenya and that their current market share looks good at around 45%.
Huawei was strategic with the IDEOS launch as they partnered with Safaricom, Kenya’s leading mobile network. The combination of the carrier advertising and the Android platform have resulted in the phenomenal success.
He reiterated Huawei’s goal of providing low-cost, affordable phones for a plethora of markets. One of Google’s stated goals for Android was to lower costs so that smartphone adoption could permeate to all levels of society. Huawei’s success in Kenya is just one example of this goal coming to fruition.
Source: Huawei
