13
07
2025

PAGES

13
07
2025

spot_img

PAGES

Home Blog Page 6963

East Africa Records A massive 76% Growth in PC Shipments in Q1 2011

0

The PC market in East Africa strongly expanded in the first quarter of 2011, even as the worldwide PC market contracted and the pan-African market almost stagnated, according to a recent report by market research company IDC. While global PC shipments declined 3.2% year on year during the first three months of 2011 and the overall African PC market grew a marginal 1%, East Africa (including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda) recorded a massive 76% growth in PC shipments. IDC expects that the East African PC market will further grow by about 35–45% in 2011 before cooling off in 2012.

According to the IDC report, the growth in Q1 2011 was fueled primarily by a healthy demand for notebooks, with Kenya showing the highest uptake. This quarter was a continuation of the dynamic development in 2010, supported by the resumption of commercial demand and strong advertising and promotion efforts by vendors, as well as their efforts to find new distribution channels and strengthen existing ones. This helped to stymie unofficial (gray market) shipments.

The report also said that consumer demand was dynamic in 2010 but relaxed in Q1 2011, due to a combination of factors that affected price levels, including unfavorable foreign exchange rates and inflationary pressures. In addition, competition between vendors caused consumer pricing to plateau, and thus prevented sellers from stimulating demand around attractive price points.

“We are continuing to see increased interest in the region from international investors, especially with Kenya’s new constitution, which is hoped to be fully implemented after the next general elections, Uganda’s oil discovery, and the formation of the East African Community (EAC) market, which has a combined population of over 130 million,” says IDC analyst Stanley Kamanguya. “Investors are looking at the region as the next frontier of growth, with Kenya as the hub.  Political risk will remain a key issue for investors, however. The extent of consequences of events in North Africa and the Middle East remains unclear, which will affect the market in the short term.”

Beyond Core Competence – You Must Keep Innovating

0

The Eastman Kodak Company was an iconic industry leader. For decades, it was synonymous with photography. But it got stuck in its core competence of traditional film products and missed the rise of digital photography and printing. To survive, it has stopped selling film cameras, focusing on the digital ones that dominate the market. But it arrived late.

In 2005, IBM sold its PC division to its former competitor, Lenovo. In the preceding decade, IBM appeared to be headed into extinction. From one SEC filing, it revealed that it lost nearly a billion dollars on the PC business over three-and-one-half years. It sold this money-losing division systematically evolved itself to become, once again, a respected technology competitor.

Organizations such as IBM and GE have adapted over the years to remain competitive in the market. They have gone through different cycles of disruptive innovations, leaving some businesses, and creating new ones. Others like Kodak and Nokia are re-strategizing in order to remain relevant in a dynamic global market. The latter just signed a partnership agreement with Microsoft to develop new mobile solutions, after the new CEO acknowledged that the phone maker has been left behind by its competitors. Here, Nokia understood that its sole strengths are not enough to win.

C.K Prahalad and Gary Hamel’s HBR classic Core Competence of the Corporation made popular the notion that knowing and mastering core business factors can be leveraged across products and markets. Yet the ways companies make products, especially electronics, have been disrupted and redesigned. As Nokia’s boss noted, Nokia’s core competence is in phone designs, but the trend in China, where manufacturers buy phone chipsets from vendors and make phones at unbelievable pace and price, controlling one-third of the global phone market, introduces a new dimension of competition.

From my experience establishing a small semiconductor company in Nigeria, I see consumer electronics design becoming a commodity. Companies that are too obsessed with design competence could suffer, especially in the developing markets. Businesses such as Cisco, Dell, HP, and Motorola have seen their R&D spending dropped as a percentage of sales; yet, most get products to market faster. Why? There are other firms like MediaTek and Flextronics that do to design what China’s Shenzhen district does to manufacturing. They develop chipsets and license to manufacturers who then produce and sell. Companies like Best Buy and Wal-Mart rely on these design houses for some of their branded tech products, enabling them to sell at competitive prices, with no R&D cost. Looking outside for new insights is everywhere: P&G expects 50% of new products ideas to come from outside the company.

With crowdsourcing services, lower wages, and improving designers in most emerging nations, multinational corporations must evaluate how to retool products to make them relevant to new markets. While core competence remains vital — differentiation offers a competitive advantage — firms must examine their organizational ambidexterity. They must be ready to let go, just as Kodak is doing on traditional cameras. They must be ready to go beyond their core competence and its associated core products and markets of today, which may be irrelevant tomorrow, to evolve and prosper. And the ability to do that may become a new core competence

Originally published in HB: Beyond Core Competence

Open vs. Close – Google Android Market and Apple App Store

1


Very good, our parent company, Fasmicro, paid $25 to join the Google Android Market. If we have been building apps on Apple, what might have happened? Of course the model would have been different, because Android Market and Apple App Store are different. These two companies simply do not see eye to eye in the strategy on how to sell apps. This is one thing you must consider before you choose your platform for development. It is tougher to get apps in Apple. But that does not make it better for you.


With the Android Market, all you need to do is pay a one-time $25 registration fee. In Apple, you must submit and then wait until they review and possibly accept your apps. People choose Android because of its simplicity to get the apps right and into the hands of customers. It is flexible and fast.

 

What you get with that easy process is what you can lose in spyware. It is easy to rig Android Market by the bad guys than Apple store. Android Market is full of un-regulation, open pure democracy. But after all the considerations and looking at the fact that Amazon Appstore for Android is there, one can just buy from Amazon that has the experience in selling things online. The Android appstore run by Amazon is safer and is more orderly.

 

These are the two platforms that matter most in the apps world– it is either iOS or Android and all the issues in the market are secondary.You truly do not have a choice – you must use either Google or Apple. Windows Mobile or RIM Blackberry is not a big option, at least for now, since their base is very limited.  Ovi store from Nokia is not seen as being elite because Nokia is not assumed to be making premium brands. Why? When people can buy cheap phones at less than $30, it will be hard to convince them that you can serve those that care for $900 category. Those cheap phones erode the brand.

 

So, at the end, it is Android vs. iOS. The secret is the network effect. People will develop where there are more people and that is what is happening now. We go for Android, but iOS was closer. The reason is simple: in the developing world, the projection favors Android because the liberation in the OS will enable any player to get in and make more phones on Android. And that is sustainability!

myCash Simplifies Social retailing, Tracking and Sharing Expenses

0

 

MyCash is an avenue for you to keep track of how much is going out of your pocket at a granular level. Lets you find informaton concerning purchases of goods that you already made. It enables you to get direct and factual information without too much speculation concerning a purchase you intend making.
This idea was conceived in Garage48 Lagos where it was pitched as follows:

MyCash – For people who track their expenses: people who need to budget (eg. students) can track and share their expenses. Through sharing others can also find good deals on the products and services or just the fact that the purchase was made. A mobile app.

 

Team members: Odeyemi Kayoed, Ogundana Stanley, Ajibola Aiyedogbon, Baruwa Lekan, Tunji Jabitta, Stephen Ohakanu

URL: mycashg48.appspot.com

Twitter: @mycashg48

Facebook: MyCash

Evrica Events Is The Event Management System for Africa – A Product of Garage48

0

First, this Garage48 creation is up to business. The website is running and it has a clear plan to transition into a full-blown company. Yet, we caution that they can focus on Nigeria before they plan to move international. We noticed all the countries they plan to be. While being in Sierra Leone is exciting, it is just 4m people. Getting few streets in Lagos will take care of that. Nigeria is 1/5 of Africa’s population. Any business that does well there and capture 30% of its market may be better than all the other West African markets combined. Guys, you have the meat in Lagos. Get it done there before venturing out!

 

Evrica Events is an online event Management system that automates key processes such as registration, scheduling, on-line payments, event s management. Our systems helps to reduce time and expense required to manage events such as conferences, competitions, trade shows, training seminars, travel, press tours and customer briefings. As an online event management platform, we help to reduce the hassle of advertising, managing and locating events around Africa. Our events portal helps events initiators or organizers to have a wide reach for their events and showcase an online event bill. Our events listing help corporate entities and individuals to locate trainings and workshop for personnel and individual development in various fields and per need basis. We go a step further to manage events ticketing and track attendees

 

Team members: Jide Olaniyan, Femi Taiwo, Anderson Obeh , Abdulhakim Haliru, Onigbinde Seye, Frankfurt Ogunfunminiyi, Femi Bilesanmi

URL: evricaevents.com

Twitter:@evricaevents

Facebook: Evricaevents

 

Events Registration

Evrica events is a web and online platform designed to for Africans to register their upcoming events with ease. We allow Organizers of events to create their upcoming events and this can be easily viewed by our numerous visitors. As an online event management platform, we help to reduce the hassle of advertising, managing and locating events around Africa. Our events portal helps events initiators or organizers to have a wide reach for their events and showcase a standardized for their event.

Events Ticketing

Evrica also offers events ticketing services to our interested clients. We help the publicizing the events through all social networks and with our highly effective and efficient email marketing strategy. Participants to each event can also buy their tickets online with their MasterCard or visa card without any stress or hiccups. Our ticketing system network covers the entire Africa and we can proudly say that We are the best platform for event ticket sales in Africa.

Events Advert (listing)

Events listing helps corporate entities and individuals to locate trainings and workshop for personnel and individual development in various fields and per need basis. We go a step further to manage events ticketing and track attendees. For our premium clients, we help them advertise their events through all social networks and with our highly effective and efficient email marketing strategy.