French phone maker sets out Kenya strategy

In September last year, Wiko Global, a French smartphone manufacturing company, launched its products in Kenya, its first market in Africa. The company — whose offerings include Wiko Goa, Sunset, Fizz Getaway and its flagship product, Highway — is in plans to launch what it says will be the slimmest phone in the market. We spoke to John Miriti, Wiko’s country manager, on his firm’s plans to take on bigger players in the industry.

Kenya has seen an influx of mobile phone brands; how will Wiko stand out?

With our high quality, stylish and affordable phones, we are sure we will make a mark in the industry. You must also consider that Wiko is Europe’s fastest-growing brand and the second-largest phone manufacturer in France after Samsung. There is no reason we cannot replicate the same success here.

How have Wiko products fared in the market so far?

Kenya’s mobile phone penetration stands at 67 per cent, and 400,000 phones are sold on a monthly basis. Of these, 40 per cent are smartphones and 60 per cent basic feature phones. This shows there is still room for expansion in the smartphone segment. For Wiko, whatever we sold in quarter four of last year in Kenya doubled in quarter one this year.

In addition, we are making Kenya the hub of our activities within the region to access the East African market of more than 150 million people. We are currently investing heavily in key retail partners across major towns in the country through shop visibility improvement programmes, trainings and joint promotions.

What are your challenges?

There are dominant players in this industry, and being a new brand, we must work harder to convince people we have what they need. At times, we have to give stock on credit to distributors or retailers, some of whom will not hold a substantial amount of cash in a new product.

Do you have what it takes to make a success of the brand?

I believe I do. I have worked in BAT’s corporate and regulatory affairs department where I came up with strategies to market products that were receiving negative publicity. I have also had marketing stints with multinationals like Nestle and Samsung before Wiko came calling.