Apple's iPhone launched in the UK this week with the same sort of fanfare that was seen when it was unveiled in the U.S. earlier this year. All this got me thinking about whether Apple is ready for a real move into the Ugandan market.
Would the iPhone work in Uganda
The iPhone has which means it could work on any of the major networks in Uganda (MTN, Mango, Celtel), so this is not really an issue.
Uganda has also seen numerous upgrades to the country's cellular capacity ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November 2007. With over 3000 delegates coming into the country to attend the bi-annual event, the government spent over UShs5 billion to ensure that the networks were up to international standards. (read more)
Translated, this means that the delegates will be able to use their blackberry phones in all 80 districts in Uganda.
But it also means that when CHOGM has come and gone, Uganda's cellular networks will be able to handle the new generation of smart phones.
That said, network capacity is not the only concern here. To get the most out of your iPhone, you will need a computer with a USB 2.0 port, and a recent OS (Mac OS X v.10.4, or Windows XP Home or Professional). Without a computer, the phone loses much of its appeal.
Can the market support Apple's iPhone?
Uganda's cellphone market is at 2 million subscribers and growing. In an interview with the East African this past September, Herbert Oluka (CEO of Hits Telecom) pointed out that with a population of 30 million and rates of 16-20 cents per minute, Uganda is one of the highest-priced emerging markets today.
But it is doubtful whether any of the existing carriers would be interested in doing a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to the Ugandan market. That £269 price tag—approximately Ushs 959,000 at the time of writing—puts this device out of the price range of most Ugandans. Eventually one carrier in Africa will get up the courage to gamble on this product, but I would not expect that carrier to in the Ugandan market.
Bringing mobile computing to Ugandans
As David Kobia points out on his blog, dk Factor, cell phones are the prevalent computing devices in Africa. They are portable, energy efficient and the subscriber can manage his costs with pre-paid packages. In Uganda's economy, the cell phone makes sense on every level.
David argues that the iPhone, with its true web browser, can bring the internet into the reach of more Africans. Viewed in that light, the price might seem like a bargain; you get a phone and a computer all for the price of one. I can already see the "browse-the-web" kiosks springing up all over Kampala and NGOs rushing into the country to set up loan schemes for the poor to buy iPhones and entrepreneur their way out of poverty by selling web time.
But I am cautious to declare this a foregone success. There are only a couple of free wi-fi spots in Kampala at the moment, therefore internet access in the country will have to improve considerably before the iPhone has any impact in this regard.
Not always a question of what is practical
There is no denying that the iPhone is a cool looking gadget. That might mean more to a prospective buyer than anything else.
The reason for this is simple: social capital means a great deal in Uganda, and by that logic, so do the things that are perceived to elevate one's status in the eyes of others. A flat screen tv, a gas-guzzling H2 Hummer with personalized license plates, a personal helicopter...the more exclusive the gadget, the better.
In this way, Uganda is no different from any other country in the world. Which is why I expect iPhones to start showing up in the hands of well-quaffed individuals over the coming months, regardless of whether or not any local network strikes a deal with Apple.
Comments
Highly unlikely
Cool topic
You've got to look at it in terms of demographics. The cellphone market in Uganda is split into quite a number of subcategories. The bigger division is between Business Proffessionals, Young professionals and everyone else. Also spread along these groups are the age demographics: the 14-17 yr olds (kids in secondary school who's parents can afford to buy them phones), the 18-22's (generally campusers), the 23's to 28's (young working class) and the 30+(generally the older generation).
The iPhone excels at its multimedia capabilities, is functional as a business tool, and is ok as a phone. It is also very very cool. Generally, it would appeal mainly to a rather small demographic. Mainly, people who know about it, think its cool AND can afford it.
It has been proven that the kind of phone that sells best in Africa is the lower cost affordable type. Which is one of the reasons Nokia is Number 1 in the world. Cheap handsets. Why am I saying this? Money. As long as Apple feels it cant make money off its product, I doubt they'd feel a need to release it in a given territory.(I'm sure you know this) Its part of the reason why, so far its being released across a select set of providers in the US & Europe.
Uganda is not at a point where our mobile network is robust enough to support data as a cheap and fast service. GPRS speeds are still in the sub 5kbps range. In addition to that, internet access through hotspots still isnt that great. First you'd have to look for one, then pay to use it. All for what? To surf the web on a 3.5 inch screen? Doubt it. I've played with the idea off my PSP, I doubt the iPhone would fare any better.
That said, the iPhone is a pretty cool phone. I would love for Uganda to be ready for the iPhone. Or the iPhone to be suited for Uganda. Unfortunately, we're just not there yet. I guarantee, in about 2 years, the iPhone will be everywhere here.
PS: In the US, the day the new line of iPods was announced, and the iPhone price was dropped by $200, for a limited time only, the 4GB iPhone was available at $299.99. At that time free tools to unlock the iPhone had just been released. Imagine that, For shs. 510,000 - one could have gotten himself an iPhone. Well,… some people did ;-)
Apple's strategy
Thanks for your comment Dante.
The demographic in Uganda are important to Apple, but that has less to do with the iPhone itself. Apple's strategy for the iPhone cannot be looked at in isolation from the rest of its product line. The company chooses markets that can support the iPhone and its Mac line. Wherever the company has sold the iPod in good numbers, Mac sales have risen as well, on which Apple makes more profits per unit than it does on the iPod or iPhone. This is one of the reasons why Apple could afford to cut the price of the iPhone by $200—that and the fact that the cost of production is falling. So we are likely to see this phone introduced into markets where the large middle class can afford it, as well as the iMac or Mac mini. One such market is China
P.S. As for the size of the screen, you may be right there, but 8,000 new subscribers in the U.K. did not seem to mind it.
First Ugandan with an iPhone!
I post this only because I have had first-hand knowledge of using the iPhone in Uganda. In fact, I would suspect that I had the first iPhone in Uganda as I traveled to Uganda merely 10 days after it was released.
I was able to do some war-driving with the iPhone in Kampala and found some wide-open wifi spot with no problem. The issue was the speed of those wifi spots. We are still shackled with the limitations in bandwidth. And while talk of the fibre connection from the Indian Ocean drags on for another decade, Uganda looses out on emerging technology like this. With the only saving grace being progressive technology pushing events like *cough, cough* CHOGM – don't get me started! – to necessitate the push to upgraded technology standards. Had it not been for CHOGM, I don't think that 2.5G, or 3G access would have been lit up in Uganda for quite a number of years.
Another potential [limitation] for this device is Apple's insistence that it be tied to a particular carrier within any given market. This is good and bad on several fronts. I won't go into the details, because I suspect as learned tech scholars that you can ascertain the pros and cons. Non of our carriers have the magic numbers to attract Apple to Uganda or the East African community for that matter, yet. Look for a sub-par entry for the Pan-African, Asia, device to serve low-income economic sectors.
I knew this would get long... I have thought of other limitors to this device's success in Uganda. Apple's activation requirements can't hold up in Uganda. Everyone being expected to activate their phone on their computer won't fly in Uganda. We'll need a whole new paradigm.
Power Consumption
The iPhone is a computer that can make calls. Therefore it's power hungry. I had to constantly charge mine because I was using it so much for music, text messages, and light web surfing if I was in the right "spot" - all of which I had to sync to my computer – all those activities need power. The national grid is a laughing stock. I found it rather useless when I was in Masindi and power has a tendency to take a vacation for two-three day without fail.
The only way this would work is if whatever carrier won this contract also provided solar chargers with this promotion or sumsuch scheme to keep these things running. Cause if they are out of jiuce, then they can't rape you with outrageous charges! ( Someone needs to fix this)
Anyway that's only a few of my thoughts, but damn it would be nice to have this work, but I am afraid it's just not sexy enough for Apple and Steve to consider! I had more thoughts on it on my blog.
I am a member of Project Diaspora, which is also a Facebook group dedicated to mobilizing the African Diaspora. We are hard at work trying to move Africa from Third to First, by encouraging members of the African Diaspora, to give back. Please join the cause. It's time to flip the paradigm on how Africa should mordernize
what spots worked?
Hey Ruge,
thanks for the comment.
would be great if you could recall what wifi spots you found for your phone.
new wifi access in uganda
I was about to send you wifi locations that worked for me in Kampala on the iphone when I read this article about new city-wide wifi going up in the city in time for CHOGM. I don't know if this is going to stay up post CHOGM, but it should serve the purpose.
I was giddy to find wifi (open wifi at that) in Masindi town at Traveller's Corner. Worked out really well... that is, when that pesky power supply took a vacation.
I will be interesting to see if Freedom Network stays up past CHOGM. Incidentally, I didn't have enough patience to wait to use it the last time I was there as the author states.
Either way, these small steps will lead to a deluge in the short term. Let's hope this trickle of progress sticks in the collective minds of those vigilant enough to notice it.
iphone uganda
Thank you so much for that article, am a university student and i really need an iphone but i dont know how and where to get it. Any help will be appreciated. My email address is smiyingo@tech.mak.ac.ug.
No clue
Hi Simon,
your best bet is to start by looking at Apple's website. From there it is anyone's guess how you get one. You probably want an unlocked iPhone since no provider has a deal with Apple to bring the phone to Uganda at present.
I am curious why you feel that youneed this phone.
Well Done
I have worked with a number of public access sites in telecenters and libraries in places like Ecuador, Jordan, and Uganda. Because of bandwidth constraints many users cannot and will not be able to use cloud computing. At present I'm working to build a network of social entrepreneurs around the world. About 20% are unable to log into a plone system here in Silicon Valley, and it's due to their poor infrastructure and in some cases latency in the satellite links (Nigeria). They have to resort to email and not much else (mobile phone SMS). So the so-called deviceless will have different sorts of access.
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