SA smartphone penetration rates still low

In the overall scheme of things, smartphone penetration is not the do-all-and-end-all of existance.
This doesn't mean squat to the millions in this country without a proper meal to eat cos their own governmet is a bunch of theives
 
Only one reason

3G, nothing else.

Smart phones needs data and at SA costs it becomes a luxury item. So yes even with free phones on contracts its not going to take off till our data prices come down.
 
maxzino said:
I hope no one is surprised, smartphones are still a luxury to alot of people in SA.
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I agree and a lot of people are scared of new technology . that includes computers
because they have never tried a computer or smart phone
 
Elimentals said:
Only one reason

3G, nothing else.

Smart phones needs data and at SA costs it becomes a luxury item. So yes even with free phones on contracts its not going to take off till our data prices come down.
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No thats not the only reason

Mindshare in SA belongs to Blackberry, While I dont consider the curve a smartphone many many people do for some reason.

I think the biggest reason is price. The HTC and Samsung and Motorola phones dont fit into most people's budgets at all.
 
How how the he'll does anyone care about smartphone penetration when there's a lack of signal penetration. Some people don't have tv, some radio or its just a crappy signal issue i mean where will they see the damn advert. If the basics failed we can't move on to the advanced.
 
How the he'll does anyone care about smartphone penetration when there's a lack of signal penetration. Some people don't have tv, some radio or its just a crappy signal issue i mean where will they see the damn advert. If the basics failed we can't move on to the advanced.
 
Unfortunately, some ignorant comments in this thread so far.

South Africa boasts one of the best mobile penetration rates in the world with more than 99.5% of the population covered.

But a vast number of these people just cannot afford a smartphone and thus we still see a huge uptake in low-cost handsets. If you don't know where your next meal comes from, are you going to spend a few thousand rand on a smartphone?
 
jannievanzyl said:
Unfortunately, some ignorant comments in this thread so far.

South Africa boasts one of the best mobile penetration rates in the world with more than 99.5% of the population covered.

But a vast number of these people just cannot afford a smartphone and thus we still see a huge uptake in low-cost handsets. If you don't know where your next meal comes from, are you going to spend a few thousand rand on a smartphone?
Click to expand...

That said, it would be great if the cost of smartphones would drop because then there would be more smartphone users in SA which would result in a higher demand... which will also help a lot when it comes to updates, Apps

I mean if you look at the BBM service, when the people hear it was only R60 and you could use the serve and browse the internet like crazy, there was a high increase in BB users
 
99.5 % covered? Statistics is a very opaque representation if one does not clearly understand the simplifications and assumptions made for the data presented. Are you trying to claim that 99.5% of SA population is covered by 3G or just stating that cellphone (2G + Edge) coverage is over 99.5% of the population? Using 2G on any smart phone for anything else than low data usage is pointless. Once data throughput is poor the perceived benefit of smart phones becomes (well lets say) questionable.

Another example: I have collogues that have very poor to no cellular coverage (well from some providers) and they live in 11th St, Menlo Park, Pretoria, Gauteng. Guess they are 0.5% excluded in that statistic.....
 
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W.Salie said:
That said, it would be great if the cost of smartphones would drop because then there would be more smartphone users in SA which would result in a higher demand... which will also help a lot when it comes to updates, Apps

I mean if you look at the BBM service, when the people hear it was only R60 and you could use the serve and browse the internet like crazy, there was a high increase in BB users
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The cost of smartphones is dropping and we'll see many more this year in the sub-R1000 price race, even sub-R500.

But, as members of this forum with the implied privileges we enjoy (jobs, education, Internet access, etc) we tend to forget that a (very) large percentage do not have the same and thus smartphone penetration will be, by definition, much lower compared to the first-world countries listed above SA in the table.

When it comes to entry-level phones and even feature-phones, we do better than most other countries with more SIMs than people and better coverage than even those other countries can claim. So people have got excellent access to basic telephony but to move them up into the 'smartphone' space we need to up the ante' in terms of basic education.
 
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jannievanzyl said:
Unfortunately, some ignorant comments in this thread so far.

South Africa boasts one of the best mobile penetration rates in the world with more than 99.5% of the population covered.

But a vast number of these people just cannot afford a smartphone and thus we still see a huge uptake in low-cost handsets. If you don't know where your next meal comes from, are you going to spend a few thousand rand on a smartphone?
Click to expand...

Pity most of the Cape Peninsula is still on 2G, including Vodacom
 
moribond said:
99.5 % covered? Statistics is a very opaque representation if one does not clearly understand the simplifications and assumptions made for the data presented. Are you trying to claim that 99.5% of SA population is covered by 3G or just stating that cellphone (2G + Edge) coverage is over 99.5% of the population? Using 2G on any smart phone for anything else than low data usage is pointless. Once data throughput is poor the perceived benefit of smart phones becomes (well lets say) questionable.

Another example: I have collogues that have very poor to no cellular coverage (well from some providers) and they live in 11th St, Menlo Park, Pretoria, Gauteng. Guess they are 0.5% excluded in that statistic.....
Click to expand...
Do you need 3G to make a phone call? That's all most people need of their phone. Sure if it were cheap they might use more, but as long as it makes calls then their needs are covered.
 
Although there is more than 100% sim card coverage (people having more than 1 sim), their is still issues with network coverage of course...

Weren't the CellCo's mandated by law to have something like 99.9% network coverage in exchange for 3G licenses?

In any case - back to the topic - if smartphone numbers lift, then we might actually get a fully functioning Apple iTunes store in SA & not the gimped one we have now.

And people would start making more local apps, as there would be a critical mass of smartphones available...

But 2012 looks like the year smartphones will start making inroads... With more low-end Androids, as well as the launch of entry-level WindowsPhone7 devices - more peeps could get them...

And with Nokia and/or Samsung also looking to replicate BB's all-you-can-eat BIS plan, then BB's days might be numbered in SA as well...
 
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