Huawei partners with local app developers
CHINESE multinational telecommunications giant Huawei said it had partnered with 48 local developers of mobile apps, and was still looking for more, in a drive to promote South African digital talent on its mobile app store.
Huawei Mobile Services launched in South Africa in June last year and since then both the mobile app store Huawei AppGallery and Huawei Themes have become increasingly popular with the local market.
Lu Geng, director of Huawei consumer cloud service for southern Africa region, said 48 developers had recently registered their apps with Huawei following a developers’ day on which Huawei executives met with South African developers to discuss Huawei’s offering.
“South African consumers are increasingly wanting more apps that are relevant to their unique circumstances, addressing issues they experience regularly – such as load shedding or safety concerns – but also apps that celebrate South Africa’s multitude of cultures and this vibrant country,” Lu said.
Akhram Mohamed, chief technology officer of Huawei consumer business group South Africa, said Huawei was committed to catering to the needs of South African consumers.
“For this reason, we aim to work closely with South African developers so that we can give our users everything they need and want from their devices.
“At the same time, we also hope to create an open ecosystem for local developers by offering a simple and secure environment for them to upload content.”
Lu said Huawei had a very hands-on approach with its developers, and hoped to expand that community so it could become an additional distribution channel for more developers and expose them to both a local and a global audience.
“For example, we regularly feature apps and designs from local developers on our Huawei social media pages, and do competitions and promotions. We want to do everything we can to make our Huawei users aware of these local apps and upload them.
“This will encourage the growth of the developer community in South Africa by giving developers more opportunities to generate revenue from in-app purchases,” said Lu. |