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Cape Town - Huawei is on the move and the Chinese company has made clear its intention to target its South Korean and Japanese competitors with feature-rich smartphones at a lower price.
South African senior technology analyst Arthur Goldstuck gave the new Huawei Ascend P7 the thumbs up.
"It may have been a short-lived lead, but it was in effect a warning shot to the rest of the market. And if that was a shot, then last week’s release of the new flagship, the Ascend P7, was a cannon blast," Goldstuck wrote on Gadget about the rise of Huawei through the P6 and P7 models.
The recommended retail price of the P7 is R6 699, cheaper than flagship models from Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG and Apple, and price is an important is driving market penetration.
However, sharp-eyed internet shoppers noticed that Orange is retailing the P7 for just R4 910, well below the recommended price and similar to the discount price offered on the P6.
Winners
The online store could disrupt the market in SA where mobile operators hold sway over cellphone sales due to their control of the main distribution channel.
Research firm Gartner found that smartphone growth was flattening in developed markets.
"Mature markets face limited growth potential as the markets are saturated with smartphone sales, leaving little room for growth with declining feature phone market and a longer replacement cycle," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Smartphones like the Acer Liquid series offer performance and value, but are only available to South Africans online. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
In 2013, big winners from the sales of smartphones include Samsung and Huawei. The South Korean giant has consolidated its market share at 31%, selling nearly 300 million units in 2013, while Huawei has seen a significant uptick in market share at 4.8%, putting it in third place overall.
Device price competition could see more South Africans able to afford smartphones like the Ascend P7 which has a 13 megapixel main camera and an 8 megapixel front facing camera.
Orange has also been able to offer devices like the Google Nexus 5 (R5 050), Acer Liquid E3 with dual SIM (R2 455), and the Motorola Moto G 4G (R2 894).
Most devices are available with free shipping.
- Follow Duncan on Twitter
South African senior technology analyst Arthur Goldstuck gave the new Huawei Ascend P7 the thumbs up.
"It may have been a short-lived lead, but it was in effect a warning shot to the rest of the market. And if that was a shot, then last week’s release of the new flagship, the Ascend P7, was a cannon blast," Goldstuck wrote on Gadget about the rise of Huawei through the P6 and P7 models.
The recommended retail price of the P7 is R6 699, cheaper than flagship models from Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG and Apple, and price is an important is driving market penetration.
However, sharp-eyed internet shoppers noticed that Orange is retailing the P7 for just R4 910, well below the recommended price and similar to the discount price offered on the P6.
Winners
The online store could disrupt the market in SA where mobile operators hold sway over cellphone sales due to their control of the main distribution channel.
Research firm Gartner found that smartphone growth was flattening in developed markets.
"Mature markets face limited growth potential as the markets are saturated with smartphone sales, leaving little room for growth with declining feature phone market and a longer replacement cycle," said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.
Smartphones like the Acer Liquid series offer performance and value, but are only available to South Africans online. (Duncan Alfreds, Fin24)
In 2013, big winners from the sales of smartphones include Samsung and Huawei. The South Korean giant has consolidated its market share at 31%, selling nearly 300 million units in 2013, while Huawei has seen a significant uptick in market share at 4.8%, putting it in third place overall.
Device price competition could see more South Africans able to afford smartphones like the Ascend P7 which has a 13 megapixel main camera and an 8 megapixel front facing camera.
Orange has also been able to offer devices like the Google Nexus 5 (R5 050), Acer Liquid E3 with dual SIM (R2 455), and the Motorola Moto G 4G (R2 894).
Most devices are available with free shipping.
- Follow Duncan on Twitter
