In what has been termed as a significant technological shift, Kenyans dropped 628,818 feature phones in the three months to March, adopting smartphones instead. The shift underpins the growing need for gadgets with advanced functionalities, especially internet connectivity.
The latest statistics from the Communications Authority of Kenya indicate that the total feature phones in use dropped from 31.8 million in December to 31.2 million at the end of March, a two per cent drop. On the other hand, smartphone usage increased from 33.6 million to 34.5 million with a 2.6 per cent rise.
The total mobile devices connected to the networks reached 65.7 million, with a penetration rate of 127.5 percent. The feature phones, which have very simple applications like calling and texting, are being phased out by the smartphones answering more modern needs, like access to the Internet.
International bandwidth usage expanded by 1.5 percent to 11,155.2 gigabytes per second during this period, partly due to the introduction of Starlink’s high-speed satellite internet from space in Kenya.
The trend started last September with the penetration of smartphones pushing out feature phones. Smartphone users increased to 32.63 million then, against 32.04 million users of feature phones.
Aggressive marketing by phone makers and mobile network operators, who give credit options, further fuels the increased adoption that makes it easier for low-income consumers to own a smartphone. In October last year, President William Ruto opened Kenya’s first mobile phone assembly plant with the objective of pushing the cost of a smartphone down to $40, about 5,178 KES. A study, however, revealed that locally assembled smartphones still retailed at up to 11 500 KES due to high taxes.
Active mobile subscriptions increased by 1.9 percent to 68.0 million as of March, leading to a SIM penetration rate of 132.1 percent. This has been on the back of customer win-back campaigns executed within the period.