Top Selling Gadgets In Nigeria This Festival Season

VENTURES AFRICA – A little over a decade ago, land phones and mobiles (or nought-nine-nought) were exclusive to the top class of Nigeria’s society. Put simply, the presence of a landline in a household represented affluence and cellphones were the private jets of this age. But with the advent of GSM technology in 2001, mobile telephony gradually became easily accessible, even to people living in the remotest part of Nigeria.

Between 2009 – 2010, the smartphone trend, which was also exclusive to a certain class of the country’s over 170 million population, surfaced. However, when Chinese phone maker Tecno ventured into the Nigerian market it presented a opportunity for Nigeria’s fast-rising middle class to access services available on smartphones. Other phone makers, i.e. Solo Phone, soon followed suit, providing cheap, yet standard services on affordable smartphones to all who move with the trend of new gadgets in the country’s increasingly demanding and tech-savvy population.

In 2013, the “gadget boom” continued with the launch of a series of eye-catching phones, tablets, and gadgets and stiff competition for market share between major phone makers, i.e. Samsung, Apple, Tecno and Blackberry (Yes, Blackberry still accounts for a significant percentage of the market share in Nigeria), while mobile penetration experienced a surge across the Africa. Thus, consumers have benefited from innovative competition between phone makers, with citizens now afforded the luxury to select from a wider range of products.

During this festive season, our team scanned through the retail markets to spot a few of the top selling devices. In no particular order, here are the top five:

1) Samsung Galaxy S4/S3 – The launch of BBM on Android has afforded potential drifters the opportunity to swap their blackberry devices for other top ranking brands such as Samsung and Apple. The Samsung mobile devices are reportedly leading sales figures this period due to the perceived proper mix of price and quality.

2) BLACKBERRY Q10 – Despite the release of blackberry’s messenger BBM on Android and iOS, sales of blackberry 2013 release Q10 remains relatively balanced. The 16GB installed memory, 4G LTE device still commands a fair amount of patronage and is listed on several mobile retail outlets amongst the top selling phones during this period.

3) Infinix x700 Joypad 7-Inch Tablet – The tag ‘Joypad’ best describes the gadgets; a combination of a Pad, a 3G smartphone, and a game console all in one product that boast a 7″ IPS high resolution LCD touchscreen, makes it the ideal device for a gadget freak. Driven by Qualcomm 3G technology, it allows users unlimited download access to contents and applications anywhere and anytime.

4) Tecno Phantom A+ – The fast emerging phone maker is gradually siphoning the industries consumer base, largely due to an efficient blend of quality and price, coercing cost-oriented customers to turn their attention towards a cheaper and similarly effective device. The newly released Phantom Pad N9 offer almost the same features as the Galaxy S4, yet cost 50 percent less than the Samsung device.

5) BLACKBERRY Z10 – Poor sales figures of the Z10 series was earlier this year, credited for the huge loss posted by the Canadian smartphone maker, but keypad-less phones have seen a change in sales fortune this period. A significant drop in price has led to an increased demand, with Nigerian retailer Slot Limited posting the Z10 as its no1 Top Selling device.