₦airaland Forum

Chinese vendors are firming up market grip into new countries.
Price competitiveness has become a key issue in many African markets.
3G handsets still dominates but 4G devices gaining grounds by 50%.
Africa’s smartphone revolution is showing signs of a slowdown according to the latest figures compiled by International Data Corporation (IDC). The global technology research and consulting services firm says the continent’s smartphone market totaled 95.37 million units in 2016. And while this is up 3.4% year on year, it represents a considerable deceleration from the double-digit growth rates seen in the previous two years, with demand being hampered by the currency fluctuations that are affecting the continent.

Overall, 215.33 million mobile handsets were shipped in Africa during 2016, up 10.1% on the previous year.

HOWEVER, IT WAS FEATURE PHONES THAT WERE LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS GROWTH, WITH SHIPMENTS INCREASING 16.1% YEAR ON YEAR IN 2016 TO TOTAL 119.97 MILLION UNITS. THIS GROWTH SAW FEATURE PHONES INCREASE THEIR UNIT SHARE OF AFRICA’S OVERALL HANDSET MARKET FROM 53% IN 2015 TO 56% IN 2016.

“Africa has always been a tough market for mobile phone companies to crack, and in 2016 that challenge got even harder,” says Simon Baker, program director for mobile devices at IDC CEMA. “Many African economies struggled throughout 2016, and this had an inevitable knock-on effect on the smartphone market, which had previously experienced a very strong 2015.

IT WAS A PARTICULARLY TOUGH YEAR IN NIGERIA, WITH THE DEVALUATION OF THE NAIRA CAUSING A DROP IN CONFIDENCE IN THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL.

And while North African markets saw an increase in overall handset shipments in 2016, the pace of growth slowed year on year due to exchange-rate fluctuations in Egypt and security issues in Algeria.”

Samsung continued to lead the African smartphone market in 2016, largely through a reworked product portfolio that now includes more mid- to low-range models. However, at 28 million units, its 2016 smartphone shipments in Africa showed little growth from the figures recorded in 2015.

THE SECOND-PLACED SMARTPHONE VENDOR WAS TRANSSION, WIDELY KNOWN THROUGHOUT AFRICA VIA ITS ITEL, INFINIX, AND TECNO BRANDS. AND IN TERMS OF FEATURE PHONE SHIPMENTS, TRANSSION COMFORTABLY OUTPERFORMED ITS MAIN COMPETITORS IN 2016.

Chinese vendors have been showing more interest in the African market in recent quarters and expanding into new countries. However, this expansion strategy is delivering mixed results across the continent. Of the big international Chinese vendors, Huawei posted year-on-year shipment growth to remain as Africa’s number-three smartphone vendor in 2016, while Lenovo saw flat growth and ZTE and Alcatel both suffered slight declines.

“Price competitiveness has become a key issue in many African markets,” says Ramazan Yavuz, research manager for mobile devices in Africa at IDC CEMA. “To grow significantly in these markets, vendors have to be able to address the continent’s large low-income population by providing phones that are priced very competitively. As such, global vendors are cautious of the lower-priced Chinese brands now entering the market and are keeping a close eye on them.”

3G handsets continue to account for more than half of all new smartphone shipments in Africa, although 4G devices saw year-on-year growth of more than 50% in 2016. IDC is predicting that 4G handsets will account for more than half of new smartphone shipments in Africa by 2018, as prices for entry-level 4G phones drop and the number of 4G networks across the continent grows. For example, Egypt saw the launch of a major 4G network towards the end of 2016, and more countries are set to follow suit in 2017.

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According to recent news, WhatsApp has decided to bring back its ‘Text Status’ which was then replaced by Stories. You will recall in mid-February, WhatsApp removed the Text – Status feature that let you set an away message and then modified it to a Snapchat Stories clone. But last week, text Statuses reappeared in the Android Beta version of WhatsApp in the ‘About section’ of profiles, TechCrunch reports.

This change happened as a result of the negative feedback WhatsApp received from a majority of their users. WhatsApp provided this statement which goes thus;

“We heard from our users that people missed the ability to set a persistent text-only update in their profile, so we’ve integrated this feature into the ‘About’ section in profile settings. Now, the update will appear next to profile names anytime you view contacts, such as when creating a new chat or looking at Group info. At the same time, we’re continuing to build on the new Status feature that gives people fun and engaging ways to share photos, videos and GIFs with their friends and family throughout their day.”

Now, WhatsApp Status will roll out to all Android users over the next week and is coming soon to iPhone. Users can open the About section of their profile to set a text Status, and view other people’s by opening their contact when starting a new chat thread or looking at group chat’s info.

Well, this proves how powerful and important feedback is to the success of brands and social apps like WhatsApp. Rapid responses to feedback do matter a lot.

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Why we should be worried, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola

By Olusegun Oruame

3% internet users in Nigeria suffered attack from cyber crooks in Q3/2015
Cybercrimes on the rise
Proactive response from government and increased citizens; awareness required
Nigeria loses 0.80% of her GDP to cybercrime, a cyber security expert, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola has revealed in a social media engagement with the Twitter audience of IT Edge News.NG.

Ajijola, a Commissioner of the Hague-based Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (GCSC), and also the Chairman of Consultancy Support Services Ltd (a cyber-security & ICT consultancy firm in Abuja, Nigeria), while quoting other sources said 45.3 percent internet users in Nigeria suffered attack from cyber crooks in the third quarter of 2015; and the trends have risen since then requiring more proactive response from government and an increased awareness by citizens.

According to Ajijola, Nigeria recognizes cyberspace as the fifth (5th) domain of warfare after land, sea, air & outer-space. Nigeria’s stance is articulated in three (3) documents [including] the National Cybersecurity Strategy and National Cybersecurity Policy that were approved about a month before 2015, as well as The Cybercrimes Act, signed into law on May 15, 2015.

But the snag is citizens’ awareness is extremely low, and institutions most prone to cyber-attacks (particularly banks and other financial companies) are unlikely to publicly report the incidence fearing the consequence on corporate or brand image.

CYBERCRIMES AND CYBER-ATTACKS IMPACTING NEGATIVELY ON STRATEGIC INSTITUTIONS ARE UNDER-REPORTED.

Crime and Image

One expert told IT Edge News.NG of unreported cases of cyber-hijacks within corporate Nigeria where criminals invade and gain control of internal processes of banks – the hacking scheme is designed to render the banks’ operations ineffective. Operations are restored once agreed ransoms are paid.” It’s happening and being addressed in ‘hush’ as banks fear the image consequences if these become public knowledge,” said the expert.

In 2014, hackers rob a Nigerian bank of N6.3billion, according to news reports (http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2014/09/13/hackers-rob-nigerian-bank-of-n6-3billion/). The hackers through multi-channel attacks were able to successfully rob the bank over a period until they were finally exposed.

Globally, financial institutions have consistently contended with series of hacks. While hackers change their game, banks are increasingly learning to become more dynamic by engaging hackers or cyber-nerds tasked solely to think and work like cyber-crooks. “That way you learn to be proactive rather than be reactive,” said Olugbenga Adebiyi, a security expert at an online retail store in Lagos.

The 2016 ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Report on cyber criminal activity noted that the global financial sector would constitute the top target for organised cyber-attacks. Hackers would increasingly seek out vulnerabilities for profit and for glory.

The Report also noted that while new technologies would offer succor to tame cybercrimes, they also open the flanks for newer attacks; thus, new technologies will be both a solution and a threat. The cyber world runs on irony, as rightly said by Ajijola:

lol... Infinix is a great phone too. Many of my friends use it.

prela:
hmm....sha lemme be managing my Infinix Jeje, samsung i dey come

Disney’s technology department has built a “prototype room with ubiquitous wireless power delivery” that allows several devices to be charged wirelessly in much the way we get internet access through Wi-Fi. By tapping ‘quasistatic cavity resonance’, researchers discovered they could generate magnetic fields inside specially built structures to deliver kilowatts of power to mobile devices inside that structure.

“This new innovative method will make it possible for electrical power to become as ubiquitous as WiFi,” Alanson Sample, associate lab director & principal research scientist at Disney Research, told Phys.org. “This, in turn, could enable new applications for robots and other small mobile devices by eliminating the need to replace batteries and wires for charging.”

Usually, mobile-device owners do plug their products into a charger to refresh a battery. Wireless charging, however, drives a stake through the cord and allows users to simply rest their device atop a charging pad to add juice. Disney’s approach eliminates the need to be on that level.
All you have to do is be in the room and your device will start charging automatically. And depending on where you are in the room, delivery efficiency can be as high as 95 percent, researchers said.

Read more: www.itedgenews.ng

Coming out from the cold, Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 plus has been unveiled by the phone king in what should globally strengthen the market grip of Samsung after its disastrous Galaxy S7 outreach.

Samsung had to recall millions of the S7 products after frequent battery explosions that the phone maker blamed on battery glitches.
Now, with Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 plus, the Korean tech giant hopes to set a new course for how the global phone market will flow. Samsung said that these two devices will be the first ever powered Snapdragon 835 powered smartphones that will have a dual-curved super cool AMOLED display. Also, it would have larger display screens than the previous ones.

Samsung Galaxy S8 is expected to have a grand release throughout the world and going to be the best smartphone among the Samsung series. It also comes with a smart watch which is always synchronized with the device and a remote control through which the device can be operated making it attractive and technical.

Read more at www.itedegenews.ng

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Edge will carry back the bent offer with numerous progressions expected that will recognize it as a standout amongst the most

#3% internet users in Nigeria suffered attack from cyber crooks in Q3/2015
#Cybercrimes on the rise
#Proactive response from government and increased citizens; awareness required

Nigeria loses 0.80% of her GDP to cybercrime, a cyber security expert, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola has revealed in a social media engagement with the Twitter audience of www.itedgenews.ng

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How to tame cyber-crooks
What could banks and other stakeholders do? Ajijola thinks one approach is to incorporate security thinking in software developers and users from the onset. “Start by demystifying the software development processes; ensure that software developers understand the need (whys) of incorporating security from the design stage, and ensure that clients appreciate the need to demand software products that are securely designed.”

The government has the responsibility to take the lead in initiating cyber security measures and ensuring a citizen’s awareness. With more than 93,214,370 Internet daily subscribers as at December 2016 as reported by the Nigerian Communications Commission (http://www.ncc.gov.ng/stakeholder/statistics-reports/industry-overview#gsm-2), it’s both a goldmine and a landmine for Nigerian growing online community. They stand to enjoy digital innovations and also risk being robbed by cyber criminals.

Outside of government, Ajijola thinks the large plank of cyber security will be fostered by a community of cyber security startups all providing the required skill and innovation to tame cybercrimes. “By 2020 an MSME cyber security solutions sector will be in place, driven by knowledge workers below 35 years of age. Skilled cybersecurity workers will become cyber-guards that the nation will use, in times of cyber emergencies. We can succeed by working together.”