MTN Launches Affordable Smartphone

There is no doubt that MTN is pioneering the smartphone penetration in Africa by launching what they call, “the most affordable smartphone in South Africa.” The MTN Steppa smartphone features a 3.5 inch touch screen display, EDGE network capability and a 2MP camera with video recording.

Retailing at approximately $50 (approx. K275), the MTN Steppa dethrones the Samsung Galaxy Pocket Plus as South Africa’s cheapest selling smartphones which costs around $70, according to retailer Cell C. Undeniably so, cheaper product offering will help increase the number of smartphone owners and deepen internet penetration via mobile in South Africa. Now this is innovation.

Owing to yesterday’s article on Zamtel versus the future, these are things we’d love to see happening realistically in Zambia. Enough with the talking. Launch something tangible already! And where is MTN Zambia in all of this? Things seem to have slowed down a bit after the 4G LTE launch. On the other hand, Airtel Zambia is completely hush-hush. If internet and mobile marketing is indeed the future of Zambian telecoms then it only makes sense to back it up with hardware, gadgets, as well as affordable products and services. I am sure customers are tired of paying an arm and a leg for decent connectivity.

The table below shows the price of the cheapest phones from telecoms in Zambia, except Airtel because they didn’t have it on their website. Offers might be different in stores (please verify):