BlackBerry vs iPhone vs Android in South Africa (Vodacom network)

rpm said:
BlackBerry vs iPhone vs Android in South Africa

The latest statistics show that not too much has changed in the South African smartphone market
Click to expand...

Wow... people still don't want to have surprise inflated phone bills at month end because of data! People also don't want to replace their blackberries with something that chews data. Bottom line is BlackBerry meets the majority of users wants in a smartphone. I think the point is that nothing much has changed at the service providers.
 
IPX-SPX said:
Wow... people still don't want to have surprise inflated phone bills at month end because of data! People also don't want to replace their blackberries with something that chews data. Bottom line is BlackBerry meets the majority of users wants in a smartphone. I think the point is that nothing much has changed at the service providers.
Click to expand...

+1 million

couldnt have said it better myself.

OOB rates are scary even though i see some SP are lowering the costs, mtn have removed their hard cap (user enabled) so now i try my best not to use data and just stick to wifi if possible
 
Blackberry, oh Blackberry, why are you still messing with people - making them think they have a smartphone when in reality they just have a plain old boring phone.
 
IPX-SPX said:
Wow... people still don't want to have surprise inflated phone bills at month end because of data! People also don't want to replace their blackberries with something that chews data. Bottom line is BlackBerry meets the majority of users wants in a smartphone. I think the point is that nothing much has changed at the service providers.
Click to expand...

Most of my friends after the moved over :

Month 1: OMG ! look I have a lovely smartphone thats a real smartphone because other people told me it is.
Month 2: Help ! OOB shark ! Help !!
Month 3: Silence.


Android and Apple make lovely phones but the reality is that most people can't even afford to buy them... never mind run them.
 
2.7mil people getting an inferior internet experience. Oh, the irony Vodacom:whistling:
 
Nice competitive market opening up. I am sure Windows 8/Nokia will start appearing on the list. Problem is that the Service providers are still making Mandela money faster than they can print it.
 
Biggest problem I've encountered while trying to help people with their phones is data.. so many people I know just turn off mobile data because they're afraid of getting huge bills, or are upset because they're constantly running out of data bundles. Now it's easy enough for a geek to point out that too many apps/widgets, too much surfing etc; will chow your data but the people I've helped often are just fed up and don't want to have to worry about it.

It's the same frustration I've seen with with newbies when 1GB of data used to cost an arm and a leg and people were too scared/irritated/whatever to browse the net except for email.

The problem as I see it is the data charges are just still too high.

I'm not a Blackberry fan (I loves my Galaxy S2) but I totally get why people love them, simple, unlimited data for a flat fee, does the job.

Personally I have wifi at work and home so I leave mobile data turned off unless I really need it.
 
BB users are best described as horses with blinkers on, they really cant see anything/acknowledge anything else...

noobs.
 
I hardly know anyone that still uses a BB, most people upgraded to android's or iphones.
 
I find the article very misleading. These are just Vodacoms stats and should not be considered as the whole of SA since there are other networks as well. It should say that in the title.
 
IPX-SPX said:
Wow... people still don't want to have surprise inflated phone bills at month end because of data! People also don't want to replace their blackberries with something that chews data. Bottom line is BlackBerry meets the majority of users wants in a smartphone. I think the point is that nothing much has changed at the service providers.
Click to expand...

Pity about the cheap plastic hardware that they come in...and the clunky old OS used to navigate them.

Bottom line, the majority of SA phone users are not savvy with technology. They want something that will ring, and a platform that will allow them to send a message to a friend without the cost of an SMS. Perfect for school kids, maids and moms that don't need the functionality of a true smart phone. That...is the reason why there are so many in SA
 
game@holic said:
I find the article very misleading. These are just Vodacoms stats and should not be considered as the whole of SA since there are other networks as well. It should say that in the title.
Click to expand...

So true.

What surprises me is the lack of mention of Nokia.

Unlike in the US and other markets, symbian smartphones are still very popular. If you add that to Nokia's Lumia range you will have Nokia smartphones in the millions (1.x millions perhaps if not 2.x) on the Vodacom network alone.

My speculation remains plausible (thus correct) until there can be and are shown statistical facts to disprove it.

Nokia and Blackberry are more popular than Samsung (and all of Android) and Apple in South Africa.
 
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IPX-SPX said:
Wow... people still don't want to have surprise inflated phone bills at month end because of data! People also don't want to replace their blackberries with something that chews data. Bottom line is BlackBerry meets the majority of users wants in a smartphone. I think the point is that nothing much has changed at the service providers.
Click to expand...

This is not the main reason, as many of us would think. We on this forum are very technology focused, but the casual phone user is not.

Most people (especially children, teens and students), use BB's to BBM. It's like a virus! Everyone will think a S3 or iPhone is cooler, but because all my friends chat on BBM, I need to have it too.

Often when I ask someone why do you use a BB, they would say because of the free internet, to sound smart, but the casual BB user wouldn't even use R60 of capped data per month.
 
McCrazieGoalz said:
So true.

What surprises me is the lack of mention of Nokia.

Unlike in the US and other markets, symbian smartphones are still very popular. If you add that to Nokia's Lumia range you will have Nokia smartphones in the millions (1.x millions perhaps if not 2.x) on the Vodacom network alone.

My speculation remains plausible (thus correct) until there can be and are shown statistical facts to disprove it.

Nokia and Blackberry are more popular than Samsung (and all of Android) and Apple in South Africa.
Click to expand...

+10000000000

And Jessica has one.
 
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