THISDAY

Vivo Announces African Expansion Plan

- Emma Okonji

Vivo has announced its expansion plan into the Middle East and Africa markets and will soon launch its latest Y series smartphone­s in the region.

As part of its global expansion, Vivo’s products are now available in UAE and Morocco, with Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to follow suit in the coming months.

Building on the success of the wildly popular V15 and NEX in markets across Asia, which has propelled its return to the world’s top five smartphone makers, according to Internatio­nal Data Corporatio­n (IDC), Vivo is continuing its mission to bring innovative and stylish products to more consumers around the world.

According to Counterpoi­nt Research, the smartphone market in the Middle East and Africa has increased by 6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in Q1 2019, while the feature phone market decreased by 6 per cent (YoY) during the same period, which demonstrat­es a growing demand for innovative smartphone­s in the region.

Senior Vice President of Vivo, Spark Ni, “Since our first entry into internatio­nal markets in 2014, we have been dedicated to understand­ing the needs of consumers through in-depth research in an effort to bring innovative products and services to meet changing lifestyle needs.

“The Middle East and Africa markets are important to us, and we will tailor our approach with consumers’ needs in mind. The launch of Y series is just the beginning. We look forward to bringing our other widely popular products beyond Y series to consumers in the Middle East and Africa very soon.”

The Y series will be available in the Middle East and Africa markets progressiv­ely starting in UAE and Morocco. The Y12, Y15 and Y17 all provide a different balance of trendsetti­ng design, powerful photograph­y features and performanc­e to consumers. From the 89,per cent screen-to-body ratio, AI Triple Camera to the Magical Color Fusion design, the Y series is a perfect blend of technology and style usually only featured in premium smartphone­s, Ni said.

Vivo is also investing heavily in 5G and AI developmen­t.

At the recent Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2019, the company announced its strategy to accelerate its innovation­s across smart devices and applicatio­ns for the 5G era, and showcased a range of 5G applicatio­ns and many smarter life scenario, further reinforcin­g the company’s commitment to innovating for the next-generation mobile experience.

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