On 7 December 2017, Chinese ICT solutions provider, Huawei announced that the Huawei Mobile Service platform will be launching in Africa adding to the 328 million users who already have access across the globe. The platform will launch as a pre-installed localised app store on Huawei devices.
“Huawei’s consumer mobile services in Africa will include an app store for locally developed games, music, movies, books and other content; we are also planning to launch African themes and cloud storage,” says Cobe Li, Huawei’s Cooperation and Alliance Director of Consumer Cloud Service Dept, Southern Africa.
Li says that Huawei’s app Store is not aiming to compete with the likes of Google Play, but aims to supplement existing android apps.
Huawei has been working with partners in Africa to offer local content, locally developed apps, including games to bring added value to its customers in Africa.
“We want to partner with innovation incubators to support local developers and bring their content onto our platform, this is part of our long-term strategy to build up our localised content inventory,” said Li.
Huawei’s mobile service is also aimed at mobile carriers in Africa as the demand for content and digital services grows. Research of online consumer trends shows that there is a marked increase in demand for content; and in Africa, consumers want quality local content which they are willing to pay for, according to the company.
“Huawei believes mobile gaming is another huge opportunity in the mobile services space. PWC’s Africa entertainment and media outlook 2017-2021 shows a marked increase in consumer spend on mobile gaming in key markets like South Africa and Nigeria,” concluded Li.
Edited by Dean Workman
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