Mobile

• 28.08 million mobile subscriptions in the country
• Safaricom – 67%, Airtel – 15%, Orange – 10%, Essar – 8%
• Pre-paid subscriptions grew by 6.03 per cent to record 27.84 million subscriptions
• Post-paid subscriptions grew by 1.31 per cent to record 236,436 subscriptions
• Mobile penetration was recorded as 71.3 per cent
• Total local mobile traffic declined to 6.70 billion minutes from 7.09 billion minutes
• Minutes of Use (MoU) per subscriber per month declined to 79.9
• 89.10 per cent of the population had access to mobile services compared to 84.5 per cent recorded in the same period of the previous year
• The percentage land mass covered by mobile services was increased to 34.45 per cent from 34.00 per cent

SMS / MMS

• SMS per subscriber per month declined by 38.52 per cent from 17.42 SMS during the previous period to 10.71 SMS
• A total of 902 million messages were sent down from 1.38 billion during the previous period, posting a decline of 34.85 per cent.
• The average number of SMS sent by each subscriber per month was recorded as 10.71 down from 17.42
• 1,723,544 multimedia messages during the period, which was 1.98 per cent more

Internet

• The estimated number of Internet users rose by 21.55 per cent from 14.30 million users in the previous period to 17.38 million
• 36.3 per cent of the population had access to Internet up from 31.8 per cent
• Internet service continued to rise steadily during the quarter to stand at 6,152,687 Internet subscriptions
• Broadband subscriptions increased to 131,829 from 126,589
• No of Mobile data/Internet subscriptions increased to 6.07 million subscriptions compared to 5.37 million subscriptions
• Satellite subscriptions declined from 774 subscriptions in the previous period to 669
• In terms of other fixed/terrestrial wireless data/internet subscriptions, Kenya Data Networks led the pack with a market share of 33.48 percent followed by Wananchi Telecom which had a market share 23.55 per cent

Mobile Money Transfer

• An increase of 3.08 per cent subscriptions in mobile money transfer was recorded from 18.4 million in the previous period to 18.9 million
• The number of mobile money transfer subscriptions represents 70.35 per cent of the total mobile subscriptions.
• The number of mobile money agents grew by 6.84 per cent during the period, from 44,922 during the previous period to 47,997
• The total deposits made during the period under review were recorded as KSh176 billion, representing an average of KSh58 billion deposits made per month

At Zilojo we have compiled our choice of the Top 10 Web design trends for 2012.

We hope you will lets us know what you think about them.

1. Mobile

1/5 of all web searches are done on mobile devices.

2. HTML5 & CSS 3

Ever heard of HTML5 icons? Off-line storage, Web sockets, Canvas?

3. Typography

With the correct placement of fonts, make your website stand above others.

4. Touch Friendly

IPAD, Galaxy Tab e.t.c friendly

5. One Page Layouts

Edit away what’s unnecessary.

6. Huge Images / Backgrounds

Create visual impact your users will not soon forget.

7. Textured Backgrounds

Use this to create depth

8. Minimalism

This post

9.  Simple Color Schemes

Designers are experimenting with primary colors like green, yellow or red intelligently to create a web design which is something simple and truly remarkable

10. Social Sharing

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn etc connected

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Symbian drops a few to 65.38%

Samsung at 7.72%http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_os-KE-monthly-201106-201108

StatCounter Stats

The results are out

1. Opera Mobile / Mini Browsers – 80.48%
2. Nokia Web Browser – 9.43%
3. Android Web Browser – 4.52%
4. Apple Web Browser – 1.45%
5. Netfront Browser – 0.82%
6. Blackberry Web Browser – 0.43%

Deductions:

1. Opera still dominant but loosing little market share to Android
2. Nokia web browser actually making some gains..
3. Android = IDEOS 60K units and counting WOW! The Droid is a voracious bandwidth hog so this may not entirely be due to handsets but also increased browsing per user.
4. Apple is flat no growth
5. Blackberry is flat no growth

Predictions
1. Opera – Will continue to be dominant, maybe have some share eaten by Android. Long term 70%
2. Nokia – Long term this will reduce and stabilize at 5%
3. Android – I think this will grow to about 12% in next 24 months
5. Apple – Flat
6. Blackberry – Flat

Content Developers
1. Your mob site must work in Opera, Nokia and Android.
2. Start thinking of HTML5 Apps

Full Stats – http://gs.statcounter.com/#mobile_browser-KE-monthly-201005-201104

ZJ

• The mobile internet user is predominantly male, and likely to be between 18 and 45 years old. He is digitally savvy, and immersed in popular culture in all its forms – TV, music, film and fashion. He is highly social, and actively engaged in group-pursuits.
• The mobile internet user is not a teenager. He is an adult facing a number of crucial life milestones, from changing jobs, to buying a home or car, to starting a family.
• His internet usage is split between the fixed internet and the mobile internet, and he downloads an eclectic variety of apps and games at the moment they come out.
• Over half of the audience have either sporadic access or no access at all to the fixed internet, making the mobile internet a valuable channel to reach a unique user-base.

Statistics

Handsets

Country

Kenya Statistics

• In 7th place is Kenya (522 million impressions) despite slower growth (3%) in the fourth quarter, following six months of triple digit growth.
• Compared to 2010, the Kenyan audience grew by 245%.

Demographics Age

Demographics Gender

Channels

Handsets

Market Forecast

5 key Ongoing Trends

1. Demand for content continues to grow.
   - International players are shifting their attention to high growth new markets such as Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Argentina and Brazil.
   - Freemium games are offering brands and entertainment companies the opportunity to generate immersive experiences, which creates loyalty and extends the life of an ad campaign.
2. Carriers continue to market off-portal, not so much to gain market share, but to educate their own user bases on new products and services.
   -This off-portal advertising has a dual agenda: to increase data traffic, and to remedy falling revenues from prepaid customers.
3. The travel and hospitality industry is starting to reap the rewards of mobile.
   -  Campaigns are working to promote specials and fill rooms and seats.
   - Services such as mobile check-in are improving customer experience.
4. Retailers are starting to move into the mobile space, especially those associated with carriers and MVNOs.
5. Basic mobile financial services need to be refined, and promoted effectively. Many services in the market suffer from poor consumer education, as indicated by our recent user

Opportunities for Advertisers

• India, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Kenya and Vietnam remain bargains for advertisers, with millions of ad impressions at very reasonable rates.
• Central and South America continue their explosive economic growth, which is being matched by their increase in mobile traffic, in a number of markets – particularly Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
• Mobile strategies have matured, and it’s no longer a case of ‘apps vs the web’. Recent brand campaigns have proven the benefits of promoting freemium brand apps with mobile internet campaigns, to extend the life of a campaign and create an immersive brand experience.

Opportunities for Publishers

• Malaysia has emerged as one of the most expensive markets on a CPC basis, and the chronic undersupply of content and publishers, combined with strong advertiser demand, have inflated advertising rates very fast. Publishers who grow their inventory now, and meet that user demand, are sure to earn healthy revenues.
• South Africa remains one of the hottest markets in mobile, with consistent advertiser demand from a maturing ad industry that is delivering new consumer brands to mobile each month. Relative undersupply of locally relevant content is a great opportunity for publishers. Carriers in particular are facing a great opportunity to earn revenue on their content.
• Localised content draws increased usage. Stats from our games platform have proven the benefits of including local characters, themes, presentation and language in the success of a game, with partners using this approach to great effect in China, India and Thailand.

Opportunities for App Developers

The app explosion has created a valuable market over the past two years, with ad-supported games, and free trials of useful/addictive games and apps effectively generating revenues.

• Ad wrappers are effectively generating revenues for a number of developers. They display ads as games are starting up and being closed. The benefit of ad wrappers is that they do not require re-coding of your existing catalogue of games. An ad wrapper literally “wraps” itself around your applications, adding a new revenue stream, and allowing more competitive pricing of premium games.
• Take advantage of opportunities to localise your apps. Our games platform demonstrates that certain games are favoured above others in particular markets (for example, Bangladesh loves soccer games; Thailand loves online games, the Ukraine loves gambling). Simply incorporating a local theme or language option can open up entirely new markets, at very little cost.
• The key to success is effective distribution, and services that facilitate discovery are important partners. Take advantage of platforms that syndicate free and ad-supported apps to a significant global audience of mobile users.

Mobile Lifestyle Survey Findings

• The mobile internet audience is ready to take charge of its career. Over 30% of respondents are likely to look for a new job within the next 12 months – either because they will graduate, or because they are looking to switch employers.
• Over half of respondents have made remote purchases of goods or services. 53% of respondents have made a purchase via mail, phone or internet. Including digital content (distributed via an app store or portal), the number of respondents who have transacted jumps to 82%.
• Downloads are the most popular items purchased (23%), followed by physical digital content products such as DVDs (11%) and tickets for entertainment or travel (10%).
• Mobile is an enormous financial services opportunity. 46% of respondents state that they would use their phones for financial services (money transfers, bill payments and loan applications), if these services were available to them.
• Interacting with electronic media (TV, movies and music) is the mobile user’s favourite leisure activity. Entertainment houses have started to capitalise on this, with over 10% of respondents having booked a movie ticket online (a growth of over 6% since we last ran the survey in 2008).

1. Start with a Solid Foundation
“What exactly does UDoWePay Limited do? What services do you offer?”

2. Have a method or system
“Let me refer to our CRM system and get back to you?”

3. Do more listening than talking
“”

4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions
“Once a customer submits an order how long will it be till you respond?”

5. Be patient with your explanations
“The Mobile Web refers to the use of Internet-connected applications, or browser-based access to the Internet from a mobile device – such as a smartphone or tablet PC – connected to a wireless network.”

6. Explain your reason and thought process
“Consumers want access to information where ever they are, whenever they want to. Thats why I think a Mobile Website would be critical to your business. Africa has a mobile penetration rate of 41%.”

7. Give advice when needed
“I don’t think having blinking text is a good idea. Text and objects that blink or flash can cause photosensitive epileptic seizures in susceptible individuals, particularly if the flash has a high intensity and is in the frequency range between 2 Hz and 55 Hz.”

8. Avoid Jargon
“BRB, Gr8, CYA”

9. Avoid assumptions
“The server will connect to your POS server every 2 seconds to poll inventory information so that your FMG inventory is correct… Ohh you don’t have electricity..”

10. Use examples when possible
“Now a classic example of a Mobile Website is http://Katiba.Mobi”

Zj

INVENTORY – of the situation ‘as is’

CHALLENGE – accept it and set goals

TIMETABLE – work out a programme

OVERHEADS – costs, in time and money

ROLL IT OUT – implement the plan

YOU ARE HERE! – regularly review progress

(Source: Business Advocacy Fund  Project Management Training Workshop – www.businessadvocacy.org )

• Life is hard, the only certainty is uncertainty.
• Planning is a challenge.
• Trade-offs are a way of life.
• Buying in bulk
• Sachet marketing
• Pay as you go
• On demand within constraints

Source: Niti Bhan from Aalto University Design Factory (http://www.aaltodesignfactory.fi/ )

We’ve had a hard time trying to convince our clients that I.E was (and is) no longer the dominant browser.(See StatCounter and w3c ). Everybody they knew was viewing the web on I.E.

Three years ago, Zj made a bold move in promoting Mozilla Firefox as our preferred browser when viewing content on any of our Internet properties. We’ve never looked back.

Albeit, it was due to the complexities of maintain a cross-browser code base (which we still do!), but more was about adhering to standards. Release quick, release often, release quality thats our motto.

HTML5 is here with us (See Post). We’ve not been THIS excited about a Web Technology since Ajax made the scene.

The other great thing that we are playing with is Mobile Web.
Kenya has more people using Mobile Internet than any other connectivity channel. But guess what? There is no single local website in the top 10 most viewed (See Opera).

The challenge has been presented….

Zj

I came across this fantastic website – EatRolex.com. Perfect example of simple, fun, engaging and uber-cool.

URL – http://www.eatrolex.com/

A thumbs up for this effort.

Zj.