Kenyans almost doubled their smartphones purchases in the three months to December, acquiring 4.1 million smart devices compared with 2.2 million bought in the preceding quarter, as demand for access to digital services escalates.
A Business Daily analysis of data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) shows that the growth rate is the highest within a three-month period since the agency started publishing the records.
In a new report, CA said the number of smartphones in active use in the country stood at 41.5 million in December last year, up from 37.4 million in September, representing a 10.9 percent growth.
Conversely, Kenyans abandoned the active use of 146,643 feature phones during the period, resulting in a 0.5 percent decline in usage to 30.6 million down from 30.7 million at the end of September.
Most feature phones perform basic functions such as making calls, sending text messages and playing music, in stark contrast to smartphones, which have more complex and advanced capabilities.
“Mobile phone devices connected to mobile networks maintained an upward trend to post 72.0 million translating to a penetration rate of 139.8 percent [of the country’s total population]. Notably, smartphones maintained an upward trend at a penetration rate of 80.5 percent, while feature phones dropped to 59.3 percent,” noted CA.
“Increased availability and affordability of smartphones coupled with increased demand for access to digital services have significantly boosted smartphone penetration.”
Many people now own more than one mobile phone. The increased uptake of smart devices could also be linked to heightened marketing by handset manufacturers and mobile network operators, who have introduced credit offers on the products to spur acquisition of the devices through the hire-purchase, pay-as-you-go model.
Asset financing firm M-Kopa, for instance, recently revealed that it sold at least a million pieces of its branded smartphones last year, reflecting the growing popularity of credit offers in the local market.
Technology and innovation pundits have also in the recent past attributed the soaring demand for smart devices to the country’s growing youthful population, which is arguably more tech-savvy and innovative than older generations.
According to the CA, the continued rise in smartphone penetration, coupled with elevated need for online activities such as streaming movies, online learning and remote working, among others, has accelerated demand for high-speed internet leading to increased mobile broadband adoption, especially within the 4G and 5G networks.
“The rapid uptake in smartphones is attributable to the increased expansion of mobile broadband networks across the country that currently stands at 97.0 percent population coverage,” the report says.
Smartphone penetration overtook that of feature phones in the local market for the first time in September 2023 when the former hit 32.63 million while the latter stood at 32.04 million.
