Safaricom has reportedly ordered the iconic Samsung device and will start selling it in 2 – 3 weeks at an amazing Ksh 59,999.
With the social media euphoria drawn during the launch coupled with interest of owners of the Galaxy Tab, Galaxy S and Galaxy S2 devices, the company hope to drive smartphone uptake in the country with an aggressive push of the device.
The company hopes to use the influence and reach social media to drive the uptake of the iconic device. Already the device is selling on Amazon at $800 (Ksh 67,000) meaning that Safaricom will be subsidising the cost. The East African mobile services giant will bundle the proposition with data focused services during launch.
The device is breaking all pre-order records with current statistics showing that more than 10 million devices have been pre-ordered.
Key features of the Galaxy S3 include a quad-core Exynos processor, S-Voice assistant, Direct Call and 4.8-inch HD screen. Critics have lambasted the Galaxy S2 like plastic build. The Siri-like S-Voice feature is also said not to be properly optimised. The device is more of a Galaxy Nexus crossed bred with an HTC One X and comes in white and blue.
Samsung Galaxy S3 specifications
- Screen: 4.8-inch Super AMOLED with 720p HD resolution
- OS: Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich
- Camera: 8-Megapixel with on-board HDR/1.9-Megapixel front camera
- Processor: 1.4GHz quad Exynos
- Memory: 16GB or 32GB on board, expandable via microSD
- Connectivity: 3G, 4G (depending on market), NFC, Bluetooth 4.0
- Audio formats:
- Video formats: Codec: MPEG4, H.264, H.263, DivX, DivX3.11, VC-1, VP8, WMV7/8, Sorenson Spark
- Dimensions/weight: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm/133g
Apart from the Galaxy S3 smartphone, Safaricom is looking to boost its HTC range with the provider strongly pushing for the HTC One S and One X launch in the country though the Taiwanese mobile phone manufacturer has a very discriminative view of African market. HTC recently appointed Brightstar as its distributor and Tele-Bell as its support provider for the region unlike before when Safaricom had to bear the cost of warranty.
Safaricom will also be pushing handsets like the Alcatel OneTouch 995 Ultra in the market.
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