Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Mall for Africa CEO Chris Folayan (Part 4)

Chris Folayan: What I’ve noticed even from sales on our platform is that people are moving towards tablets – mostly tablets with SIM cards in them because then, you have constant data. The adoption of WiFi all over is not something that is common in Africa at this time. You have people adopting tablets. They’re looking for bigger screens but all with SIM connections.

Sramana Mitra: It sounds like what Africa is looking for is a larger phone that also doubles up as a tablet.

Chris Folayan: It is. That’s what they’re looking for. I see that trend picking up here slowly.

Sramana Mitra: India also went through this process. India doesn’t have this ubiquitous WiFi. In United States, we have this ubiquitous WiFi. That gives you a different level of access and viability for a tablet that does not have a SIM card or a phone connection. In India, the WiFi-based tablet model doesn’t really have that much applicability.

Chris Folayan: India is almost like Africa, to be honest. I’m not sure if you’ve been to Africa, but India is almost like Africa in many senses. The whole hotspot thing is not something that people are doing. So everybody is looking for a device that connects them at all times. The bigger the screen, the better. But there’s a part where it’s a little bit too big. Samsung Note is fine, but it is not doing too well. People are happier with a Galaxy-type screen than moving to a 7-inch screen. Either you go towards a larger 11-inch screen or you go to your cellphone.

The screen in between hasn’t been doing too well. I guess it’s more of, “You need to make up your mind. Are you going to connect on a large screen that’s mobile or are you going to connect on your cellphone?” We’ve been seeing a lot of sales in larger screens that are SIM-enabled. The WiFi-enabled ones are pretty much not even selling.

Sramana Mitra: When you said that Blackberry disappeared from Africa early on, I take it that it has been replaced by Android-based Samsung phones, right?

Chris Folayan: Yes, it has been. Now, Windows is picking up. Windows, about a year ago, had about 5% of the market. Now, they have 20% as far as mobile devices are concerned. Windows is really picking up. Nokia is doing an immensely good job pushing the Windows platform in Africa and Nigeria.

Sramana Mitra: Do you have any sense of what’s driving that success? Is there something about the Nokia Windows phone that’s delivering some value that the Samsung Android doesn’t?

Chris Folayan: I think it’s usability and the addition of something new. You have something new in the market that is able to build on what the market has been. You have Android that has been doing very well. Then you have Windows that has really looked at Android and they’ve said, “What are these two guys doing that we can do better?” They have come up with UIs that I think are more cognitive in nature to people who have used the Windows platform on their PC for ages now. They’ve taken the best of both worlds from the Android and iOS GUI interfaces and created something pretty unique.

You also have the price points playing a role. The price points for the Windows smartphones are actually a little bit cheaper than those of the Android smartphones. You’re getting the best of both worlds, in a sense, with Windows and you’re getting it at a better price point.

This segment is part 4 in the series : Thought Leaders in E-Commerce: Mall for Africa CEO Chris Folayan
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