Counterpoint Research has disclosed that the smart feature phone would help Africans phone users transition from 2G to 3G/4G in an affordable manner with minimal changes in the form-factor.
The market research company, also argued that the network transition and application ecosystem would open new monetization avenues for telecom players and increase the overall average revenue per user (ARPU) of operators in the competitive African market.
“Smart feature phone would serve as the middle ground between the feature phones and smartphones. Although feature phone shipments would decline in the future, the smart feature phone segment remains poised for growth,” said Varun Mishra, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research.
Recall MTN and Orange announced smart feature phones running on KaiOS in the African market for as low as US$20. Market watchers believe that many users are likely to access high-speed internet first time through a smart feature phone.
They also believe that fostering a partnership model among ecosystem players, like KaiOS, would drive the initial access cost down, which would help increase internet penetration in the region and thus provide long-term profitability.