Smartphones and Internet in Ghana

Smartphones and Internet in Ghana

A few years ago, if someone in Ghana asked you to buy them a mobile phone, they specified that they preferred one with a radio or camera. Times and tastes have changed. These days people will ask for phones with internet capabilities. There is a silent revolution in the use of internet on phones especially on smartphones never seen before.

The telecom sector in Ghana is very competitive with 6 mobile operators-MTN, Vodafone,Tigo, Airtel, Glo and Expresso. As the telecom sector has grown with 99% mobile penetration rate, so has the market for mobile phones.

A growing middle class, cheaper and easily available handsets, and popularity in social media has seen an explosion in the use of phones especially smart phones.

What is a Smartphone?

There are different cell phones available on the market. The majority are the ordinary basic or feature phones which allow you to call, text and perform other basic functions. A smartphone however is a phone that offers more advanced computing ability than an ordinary phone.

Smart phones are built on a mobile operating system that allow the user to perform functions like browse the internet, send and receive emails, download music and other applications, read and edit documents, use maps and satellite navigation and so on.

They have faster browsing and download speeds. In simple words they are a pocket version of a computer. Smartphones have also come to make redundant a host of devices like alarm clocks, dictionaries, cameras, CD players and radios! 

Ghana's Smartphone Players

Statistics are hard to come by in this sector but Samsung with its 'Built for Africa Initiative' (adapting global products to suit African conditions) leads the smartphone market with its user-friendly and affordable handsets. According to the German-based research firm GFK and quoted by adomfmonline.com, Samsung leads with about 43% share and 68% of revenues.

Another serious contender is local company Tecno which arguably follows Samsung with its cheaper handsets and aggressive marketing. The company launched the first dual sim smartphone in the country with a promise of becoming the market leader in the future.

Blackberry is equally popular especially with business people, middle class and students. Nokia and local Ghanaian firm RLG Communications all have their share of the market.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei entered the Ghanaian market in October with 3 smartphones, promising to be among the top 3 in three years. It is looking to replicate its success in Kenya where it holds 30% share of the smartphone market. 

A host of other cheaper brands from China are also available on the market.

Internet Uptake

Young consumers are especially interested in phones integrated with social media and download capabilities.
Currently Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Google are some of the most popular tabs most people expect their phones to have.

According to the African Business Magazine, there were only 30,000 internet users in Ghana in the year 2000. As at last year there were over 2 million users. An increase of over 6,800%. Out of this number, there are 1.28 million Facebook users.  Despite this, the internet penetration rate relative to the population in the country is still low and way behind Senegal, Cape Verde and Tanzania. 

Apart from the communication and entertainment benefits of the smartphone internet, there are many other uses. Videos and pictures can be taken and shared on the internet for instant reactions. The much-publicised Arab Spring started after someone used his smartphone to record and post online the self-emolation of a Tunisian unemployed graduate.

Mobile banking and mobile e-commerce are been gradually patronised by customers using their cell phones. Especially smartphones. Many businesses have social media pages where customers can ask questions and post complaints. Media organisations like FM stations and Television stations read comments and feedback from followers live-on-air in real-time to make their programs interesting.  

Looking for Waakye to buy? There's an App for it!

Increase in smartphone internet usage has raised the need for local content applications that are specific to the country and address local problems. Tecno phones has teamed up with indigenous firm SMSGH to launch a digital payment platform where its customers can download music and other applications at a fee. Samsung Ghana says it is working with local regulators to enable users of its 'Galaxy Pocket' smartphone to download Ghanaian music from the Samsung website to the phones.

There are many other local computer application developers busy writing applications to solve local issues. They need support and coordinated effort from stakeholders to market their creativity.

Africa Wide Phenomena

Revenues from an impending data uptake in Africa is huge. According to analysts Informa Telecoms and Media, dramatic increase in smartphones and data usage will increase revenues from non-voice by 20%. They further project that there will be up to 265 million data subscribers in Africa by 2015.

On affordability mobile devices like smartphones are set to enter the African market 4 times faster than desktop computers and laptops.

Indeed for Blackberry maker RIM, Africa is the only region where the firm is experiencing growth in its sales and market share. In all other markets outside Africa the firm is seeing declining sales and lost of market to rivals Apple and Samsung. Blackberry is the market leader in smartphones in Nigeria, the continent's biggest mobile phone market and growing. Blackberry is popular so much so that there's a well-received Nollywood movie called 'Blackberry babes'.  

Smartphones have come to stay and will keep growing as internet use also grows. It is up to governments to open up their broadband spectrum to reap the benefits it brings to the economy.