Huawei has introduced its latest budget smartphone, the Huawei GR3 2017, into the Kenyan market.
The device, which was silently introduced into the global market, has been available in several other markets in Africa and Asia. Only last week, it hit the Nigerian and Ghanaian markets, a month after it became available in Algeria, its first launch market on the continent. The device is also available in the Philippines.
The Huawei GR3 2017 is actually a repackaging of the Honor 8 Lite from Huawei’s budget sub-brand Honor. The device can also be found in another variation, the Huawei Nova Lite. All these are efforts by the Chinese device maker to cater for the huge mid-range market segment. In Kenya, the company is hoping that the device will be key in its efforts to capture 50% market share (it currently has just 14% market share).
According to a statement from the company announcing the GR3 2017’s availability in the local market that cites industry research firm GfK, the company currently has almost 15% market share on the African continent.
The device’s notable features include the EMUI 5.0 software overlay that Huawei premiered late last year on the Mate 9, its premium 5.9-inch smartphone, that runs atop Android 7.0, Nougat.
At 5.2-inches, the Huawei GR3 2017 picks up from where last year’s GR3 left with 3GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage, a 12-megapixel camera at the back and an 8-megapixel shooter on the front, a fingerprint sensor at the back, 4G connectivity and a Kirin 655 chipset from Huawei’s subsidiary HiSilicon.
The Huawei GR3 2017 goes for Kshs 24,000 and is available at all Huawei brand stores and Safaricom shops across the country.
The device has already been on sale locally through unofficial sources prior to this.
At the start of the year, Huawei unveiled the dual-camera-packing Huawei GR5 2017 in the Kenyan market, adding to a growing list of budget devices it hopes will appeal to the “tech-savvy and socially fashionable youth”.
The company is set to unveil its 2017 flagship smartphone, the P10, in Kenya soon to cater to the high-end segment of the market. The device has been up for pre-order since last month.
