Huawei Technologies Ghana has launched three smartphones and one tablet unto the Ghanaian market with brag that in three years it would be one of the top three smartphone market share holders in Ghana in terms volume and revenue. Head of Devices at Huawei Ghana, Yang Fufu told Adom News in an exclusive prelaunch interview the smartphone market in Ghana still presents a huge potential for any new entrant in spite of the big brands like Samsung, Nokia, BlackBerry and Tecno already on the market. He noted that lots of Ghanaians still use 2G phones because the smartphones on the market are generally expensive and the smartphone market share still remains very small. “Our smartphones are of the highest quality and comparable to any smartphone on the market but ours are affordable and so we are targeting that in the next three years we will become one of the top three brands on the market in Ghana,” he said. Fufu noted that one of Huawei’s handsets, the Ideos, is already in the top three in Kenya with 30% market share, and some of its other smartphones are also doing well in the UK, USA, Singapore and other parts of the world. In Ghana, Samsung is currently the handset market leader with 43% volume market share, and 68% revenue market share, according to research by German-based GFK. Other major brands on the market are Nokia, Tecno and BlackBerry. There is also LG, RLG and several unpopular brands from China, which are largely not durable. Huawei is however deepening the competition by launching the flagship Huawei Ascend P1, Huawei Honor, the dual-SIM Huawei Ascend G302D, and the 7-inch tablet, the Huawei MediaPad. Fufu said all the devices, especially the Ascend P1 combines smart features and a sleek design, representing a significant milestone for Huawei Devices in Ghana. “The Ascend P1 is the epitome of beauty colliding with brains – proof that technology and good looks can go hand-in-hand,” he said. Ascend P1 runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, features a dual-core 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4460 Cortext-A9 processor and measures 7.69mm thin and 64.8 mm long, providing a very comfortable grip. The handset has a 4.3-inch super AMOLED 960 x 540 touch screen with Corning® Gorilla® Glass, an 8-megapixel BSI rear-facing camera with AF and a Dual Flash, as well as Dolby Mobile 3.0 + 5.1 surround sound technology, and it provides a home theatre experience in the palm of the user’s hands. The retail price is GHC799. The Huawei Honor presents itself with an excellent HD display with 4.0 inch LCD. It measures 10.9mm in thickness and just 122mm in length offering it a compact design and very much desirable to handle. The Huawei Honor features a 1.4GHz processor and an 8-megapixel high definition camera, and it is a perfect Smartphone with a 1900 mAh big capacity battery lifespan. The retail prices is GHC599 Ascend G302D comes with a dual-SIM functionality giving the user options to make life more wonderful and simple. It offers a better view experience on a 4.0 inch IPS hard screen without extrusion deformation, and protects the eye. The handset runs on a 1GHz high performance processor with a 5-megapixel plus 0.3MP Dual camera offering users an excellent entertainment experience. The retail prices is GHC499 The Media Pad presents itself as fast, very slim, light and clear. It is the first tablet computer to support Android Ice Cream Sandwich and phone call function and comes with 7-inch screen 1280 x 800 WXGA IPS, leading as the industry’s clearest screen with an incredible 3D visual experience. The Media Pad has a powerful processing capacity of 1.2GHz dual core CPU. The retail price is GHC899. But loads of reviews from customers who have used it elsewhere in the world complain of non-compatibility with Whatsapp, for instance, plus weak battery life, sluggish touch screen movement, and automatic call drops when the tablet is in use. Fufu however noted that all devices are prone to some challenges but Huawei has a local customer service team to deal efficiently with any challenges that customers may report, plus all the devices come with 12 months warranty, within which period customers could have replacement when necessary. In terms of distribution, Fufu said Huawei is currently working with a local distributor called GTN, which has four outlets at GIMPA, East Legon, Achimota and Zenith University, all in Accra, but over the next few weeks 12 more outlets would added on in Accra, and later distributions points would spread across country. Fufu said the devices go on sale from October 25, 2012, and would also be available in the shops of the various mobile networks. He also hinted that over time, Huawei would start distributing unlocked modems and routers on retail basis, so Ghanaians would have the flexibility of owning modems and routers, which can be used on any telecom network in country. Huawei is a world acclaimed telecom and ICT solutions providers for many governments and for 45 out of the 50 top telecom service providers in the world. In Ghana, Huawei suppliers back office infrastructure and or devices to all six telecom operators, and it is also undertaking the $150million e-government project, designed to link all government institutions electronically, and to install last mile equipment to enable affordable broadband accessibility in the remotest parts of Ghana. The company has recently been rocked with a number of scandals and allegations across the world and in Ghana, but Public Relations Manager, Gideon Obeng told Adom News those challenges would not affect their commitment to deliver quality services, affordable smart devices and impactful corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects in Ghana. He said as part of the Huawei’s CSR activities, it has since 2009, constantly awarded the top-performing students through the Annual Presidential Christmas Encounter. “Huawei annually visits the Children’s Ward at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to offer donations - in 2011, Huawei renovated the community health center at Prampram and donated hospital equipment worth about USD200,000 - we also support Anti-Cancer and other charity programs consistently,” he said. Gideon Obeng said Huawei also established ICT laboratories for University of Cape Coast, KNUST and the University of Ghana, adding that next year Huawei would donate another ICT lab to University of Development Studies in Tamale. He said the company has also donated telepresence video conference systems worth US$3million to the government of Ghana.