A Review of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Launch in Zambia

The Samsung Galaxy S5 launch in Zambia was definitely no Steve Jobs kind of event. First and foremost, probably because it was being launched by a company that had nothing to do with its manufacturing. Still, we have to give Airtel Zambia the kudos for holding the event and attempting to make it techie.

The launch was organised in partnership with Samsung Zambia. In fact we were not disappointed to find that there were indeed S5 stations open to the audience for experimentation. However, these were only arranged after the official launch speech by the guest of honour, Communication and Transport Deputy Minister Col. Panji Kaunda. Prior to that, the stations were being used as a bay for charging phones, mostly smartphones of course.

There were some other special guests who were present for the launch including: Chiefs and Traditional Affairs Minister, Nkandu Luo and Former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa. Mrs. Mwanawasa took the stage to market the Galaxy Gear targeting women. She said it would be a great tool for women as they are always busy juggling work and household responsibilities.

Additionally, Airtel Zambia Managing Director Charity Lumpa said that her company will be investing US$80 million to improve mobile service infrastructure. According to Ms. Lumpa, the investment is Airtel’s recognition of the fact that technology is the main driver of development which breeds innovation.

At some point during the evening, Ms. Lumpa announced during her speech that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be retailing for K5,350 which will end the pre-order price of K4,945. The new price will still remain more competitive than the UK prices which we highlighted in our previous post. This means that you are still better off buying locally.

The Samsung Zambia crew were integrated well into the event as their presence was visible but not overshadowing the fact that Airtel was running the show. 3 support members from Samsung Zambia were present to assist anybody who wanted to understand the new flagship devices better or get a feel for them. The social media crew from both Airtel Zambia and Samsung Zambia were on hand to live-tweet the event.

We posted lots more pictures to our Facebook Page here.