Motorola plans to source from Africa
Jul 27, 2006
MARKET MOVER<br><br>MOTOROLA last week launched a new line of mobile phones. <b>Business Editor Paul Busharizi</b> talked to Neil Stewart, the marketing director for high growth markets on the firm’s plans for Africa and Uganda in particular.
QUESTION: What is the underlying theme of the new models – MOTOKRZR and MOTORIZR?
ANSWER: We are not delivering parity but a game winning strategy that completely redefines the product, our thinking is do not launch a phone that can not redefine the market, if it does not change the game and deliver a new experience, forget it.
So why launch in Africa?
We are seeing and explosion. There are many countries in Africa experiencing 100% growth in their networks. The opportunity is immense.
Our plan is to work with operators in those countries to find the right mix of price and product for that market.
But is Africa ready for your phones; they seem a bit pricey?
I look back over the last 18 months and look at what we have done with the GSM association to spur a reduction in handset prices.
We have launched a range of phones of a basic design but well featured phones for this market.
Just because they are more affordable it does not mean we compromise on quality and functionality.
We are still seeing millions of phones being sold and we believe there is still more to be sold.
We in this part of the world have seen significant growth.
We are enhancing our presence increasing sales teams, our people are going into the continent and engaging new partners in distribution and marketing.
Does Uganda feature in your plans?
There has been fast growth in subscriber numbers there and we are looking to win greater share of that market.
I can safely say the increase this year over last year will be higher. We are looking at 100% plus growth in our marketing costs in Uganda alone.
Is their scope for assembly and increasing local IT capabilities?
We are looking to source packaging materials in Africa. We are in discussion with various governments in the region about assembling and sourcing of components. The governments of many African countries have been active in discussing these issues and their feasibility, we are already working with Nigerian universities to organise scholarships in IT-related engineering for them.
ANSWER: We are not delivering parity but a game winning strategy that completely redefines the product, our thinking is do not launch a phone that can not redefine the market, if it does not change the game and deliver a new experience, forget it.
So why launch in Africa?
We are seeing and explosion. There are many countries in Africa experiencing 100% growth in their networks. The opportunity is immense.
Our plan is to work with operators in those countries to find the right mix of price and product for that market.
But is Africa ready for your phones; they seem a bit pricey?
I look back over the last 18 months and look at what we have done with the GSM association to spur a reduction in handset prices.
We have launched a range of phones of a basic design but well featured phones for this market.
Just because they are more affordable it does not mean we compromise on quality and functionality.
We are still seeing millions of phones being sold and we believe there is still more to be sold.
We in this part of the world have seen significant growth.
We are enhancing our presence increasing sales teams, our people are going into the continent and engaging new partners in distribution and marketing.
Does Uganda feature in your plans?
There has been fast growth in subscriber numbers there and we are looking to win greater share of that market.
I can safely say the increase this year over last year will be higher. We are looking at 100% plus growth in our marketing costs in Uganda alone.
Is their scope for assembly and increasing local IT capabilities?
We are looking to source packaging materials in Africa. We are in discussion with various governments in the region about assembling and sourcing of components. The governments of many African countries have been active in discussing these issues and their feasibility, we are already working with Nigerian universities to organise scholarships in IT-related engineering for them.