14 hours ago
Minister Malatsi's silence at the Honor Smartphone Launch: A missed opportunity?
The HONOR 400 was launched at the Kyalami Racetrack on Thursday night.
Image: Supplied
It was heart warming to see the Minister of Communications, Solly Malatsi, attending the launch of the flagship smartphone device by Honor, the Chinese mobile device company. It was not the first time the Minister attended a high profile tech event.
Not so long ago he attended another tech event hosted the Tik Tok Summit in Cape Town. Clearly, the Minister likes all things Tech it seems.
During the Tik Tok Summit he said what I thought should have been repeated at the Honor launch. He spoke about the need to support the creative economy in South Africa. Yet, he did not even speak at the Honor event.
What is interesting is that during the same week that the Minister was attending the event, in the US the Trump family launched a Trump branded smartphone. While it's a terrible idea for a sitting President to launch a telecommunications product while he's also indirectly regulating it (through the US Securities and Exchange Commission) I could not help but admire the thought behind the idea. Let me explain the beauty behind a homegrown device, which provides services that could be of benefit to the citizens. Imagine if the Minister of Communications had stood up and requested Honor to develop a smartphone for the African continent, starting with South Africa as a primary and launch market.
Such a smartphone could probably come pre-installed with major African developed Apps or even be designed to only embrace local tech. Just think about its apps that may include SABC Plus and Showmax for entertainment, Ayoba and Socialise for social networking, Siyavula and other online education platforms for education. In addition to current apps, imagine the opportunity such a device would create for local app developers to contribute towards building the local apps economy. If that is not enough, just imagine employment opportunities that could arise from a smartphone that is locally produced.
During the launch, Honor showed signs that they were ready to embrace local by announcing their partnership with the South African Football Association. What if such a partnership could lead to the development of the local online games development starting first with a PSL and SAFA online games. Once again Honor showed signs that they were ready to support innovation by announcing a $10 billion (R181bn) fund that could support innovation across the world. What if at least 1% of that fund could be channelled towards the development of the local technology industry.
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I was not in the room when the Minister of Communications was chatting with the Honor (South Africa) CEO, Fred Zhou, however, I do hope that the Minister raised some of these points and if not may be he can raise them in future engagements with the Honor (South Africa) executive leadership. The company is no stranger to innovation. It has been around for many years.
Honor was officially founded in 2013. The Chinese technology company was created to help Huawei target a more budget-oriented consumer audience in China. Although it's no longer part of Huawei, it seems to have borrowed and learnt a lot from its cutting edge innovations. Honor first branched out to an international market in 2014, choosing Malaysia as its first location outside of China. In October 2017 Honor spread its wings into Europe. Its first product in Europe was the Honor 6 and the company managed to sell 20 million phones in the first half of 2015. Honor grew quickly, as a result you are likely to find the brand in most countries around the world.
Following a strong uptake of its AI-powered innovations in South Africa, Honor has introduced the new Honor 400 and Honor 400 Pro. This is a launch that could further entrench the brand's momentum in the local mid-to-premium market. Unveiled at Kyalami Racecourse, the event brought together government and industry voices, including Malatsi, underscoring the growing alignment between mobile innovation and digital policy.
Honor's Zhou announced that their goal is to become, 'Top 1 in 2028' or the leading smartphone brand in South Africa. The company is armed with a price strategy that is accompanied with great quality. I do believe that will not be enough. An Honor smartphone designed for Africa and produced in South Africa may be a better strategy.
Wesley Diphoko is a Technology Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of Fast Company (South Africa) magazine.
Image: Supplied
Wesley Diphoko is a Technology Analyst and the Editor-In-Chief of FastCompany (SA) magazine.
*** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL.
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