Smartphones’ popularity has grown exponentially and there seems to be no end for this. There is more preference to this kind of phones as compared to other cellular devices. The youth form the bulk of the people who prefer smartphones. This can be attributed to their dynamic needs and preferences. In Kenya, more and more youth are embracing smartphones for various reasons such as:
Price of getting a smartphone
A key factor to deciding what phone to purchase is the price. With high unemployment rates for young people, it is hard for them to raise much money enough to buy expensive phones. However, even without formal employment or with little money, most young people would have a smartphone as a priority to other essentials.
Internet access
One main reason why the youth prefer smartphones to other cellular devices is their ability to access the internet faster. With a smartphone, it is possible to conduct a research online, video chat, browse social networking sites such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. By now, there are very few young people without at least one social networking site. In addition, availability of cheap data bundles has made it possible for the young people to browse for longer periods at cheaper costs.
Entertainment
The youth need smartphones for more than just call and text. Smartphones have the capability of storing thousands of songs and videos. Whenever the youth are going about their activities, this music serves as the preferred form of entertainment. On the other hand, there are thousands of games one can download from Google Playstore (for android phones). Their processing power and graphics make them preferred to other cellular devices.
Smartphone brand
The mobile telephony market in Kenya has attracted many phone manufacturers all fighting to get a lion’s share of the demand by the youthful consumers. Although this is not a great determinant to what smartphone a young person gets, it plays a key role in decision making. There are brands such as Samsung, Infinix, and Tecno that have gained popularity in Kenya.
Phone features
Smartphones’ features as processing speed, battery life, quality of photos taken and memory capacity have played a major role in the popularity of the smartphones. Gen-Y is an impatient generation interested in speed and fast operations. The faster a phone can operate with, the more it is preferred compared to others. The idea of going offline or going for a day without your phone would make a young person feel ill. They prefer phones that can last longer between charges. In addition, any great moment is worth documenting. Smartphones come with cameras. One can easily take selfies or click away any special moments.
Applications
The young people have dynamic needs. For almost every need, there is an application that one can install on their smartphones. For instance, alarm clocks, business applications, workout schedules applications, health applications among others. This has made it possible for them to be better organised and better people-a feature that is not available in other cellular devices.
The market has grown to a point where even the older people are ditching their feature phones for smartphones. With time, the ‘analogue’ phones might be phased out.
