Competition gets better as Japanese smartphone maker debuts in Nigeria

“Nigeria is the market for Freetel and we are looking forward to reaching out to Nigerian consumers with our latest smartphones. We plan to invest in the country with a full- fledged subsidiary to support sales, marketing and after sales support. We are glad that we are partnering with the most powerful and trusted partner of the region, TD Africa,” these were the words of Mr Eugene Yoshioka, Vice President, International Sales, Freetel, a Japanese giant phone maker during the announcement of its arrival in Nigeria last week.
The mobile communication company was founded by a few enthusiastic telecom experts in 2012, in the city of Tokyo, Japan, with a clear vision to re-create the Japanese quality smartphones at affordable prices. Freetel, according to information available, started expansion programme since November 2015 in Asia, North America, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. The Freetel devices are currently available in 20 countries including two African markets of Egypt and Ghana respectively.
Freetel, Japan’s largest selling smartphone mobile brand, as stated by Yoshioka, is entering into partnership with TD Mobile, the biggest mobile devices distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa in establishing its presence in the Nigerian mobile market space.
The launch event, which took place in Lagos last week, had in attendance, Mr Stan Ekeh, Chairman, Zinox Group; Mrs Chioma Ekeh, Chief Executive Officer, Zinox Group; Representatives of TD Africa, Mrs GozyIjogun, Managing Director, TD Mobile alongside Mr Eugene Yoshioka, Vice President, Global Sales; Mr Anish Mathew, Head of business.
The Japanese giant phone maker is planning to bring four different models of its Android smartphones into the Nigerian market with affordable prices.
Freetel smartphones, according to Yoshioka, are designed in the state of the art design centre in Tokyo, and that the manufacturing is supervised by Japanese engineers with over 40 years experience all of them, Google GMS certified.
He added that Freetel smartphones are Google’s GMS certified and quality checked by Japanese engineering experts and that the GMS certification is the confirmation that a specific device meets Googles’ performance requirements and properly run the Google Apps.
Also speaking at the event, Mrs Gozy Ijogun, Managing Director, TD Mobile said “As a key driver of the technology revolution in Africa, TD Mobile has always strived to bring the latest and best of technology products to Nigeria and the West Africa region by extension.
“In line with this, Freetel and TD Mobile have entered into an exclusive partnership to bring Japanese Smartphones to Nigeria. We believe we can capture a major market share with the help of our extensive distribution reach and strategic partnership with operators, dealers and retailers.”
Freetel will be available in the market across 10 major cities in Nigeria to include Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano, Ibadan etc. from August this year.