Maulik Dhanesha . Apr 20, 2022
The Southern part of the African continent is seeing major uprising in technology employment. In recent years, enterprises have been developing new pathways for smartphones usage to be a predominant force in the lives of South Africans. Mobile app development South Africa is being a trending topic within the country itself with specialists frequently discussing the future of mobile for the people.
Enterprises and government are paying much attention to the steps that can be taken for mobile app development South Africa to thrive in the years to come. Specialists in the industry are hoping to see South African app developers able to compete in the global app market..
If you’re following the trends in the South Africa technology development, here are five things about mobile app development South Africa nobody told you about:
With the attention being placed on increasing smartphone usage in the country, there is now a growing number of South Africa’s very own smartphone and tablet manufacturers taking an active role in the industry.
A company named Yekani is investing to become the leader in the smartphone manufacture industry. The company hopes to enable South Africa to comply with the international standards of smartphone manufacture to compete in the global market.
The move will see more job employment for South Africans in the tech industry, and with a locally made resources such as this, mobile app development South Africa surely will be receiving more room to explore possibilities that cater to the needs of its own local consumer.
What’s more, there has been a growing number of university majors offerring speciality in mobile app development
Compared to the sub-Saharan counterparts in the continent, most of South Africa’s population still relies on feature phones, which are non-‘smart’ phones, a.k.a ‘dumb phones’. These are the ancient generation of mobile that still relies on SMS instead of Internet-based chatting apps like WhatsApp.
South Africa is the leading country in the continent in terms of smartphone usage. This is often seen as SA’s readiness to become a more prominent player in the global tech industry. This is especially obvious with both sides of enterprise’s and government’s willingness to invest in mobile app development South Africa.
Recently, the President has even announced to cut mobile data cost to ensure citizens have more affordable access to Internet in order to employ and explore the prowess of smartphone apps.
The most popular smartphone brand in South Africa up until this point is Samsung which hailed from South Korea. However, about 30% of the market is ruled by Chinese brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi.
Huawei is notoriously taking the lead and in a recent poll done in early 2019 the company is shown to be rising in popularity by some 46%. Huawei has also taken the lead ahead of Apple’s smartphone share in South Africa.
Especially now that Huawei has announced its plans for the expansion of 5G, many investors are looking at countries such as SA which have so much potential for techno growth. Compared to countries such as Japan, South Korea, and other major European countries that are solidly established in either European or American brands, SA holds immense attraction for Chinese companies to expand their multi-market presence.
A number of specialists have voiced their opinions about the future of mobile apps in South Africa. Many claim that despite the trending news on mobile app development South Africa, no user is really that excited about new apps anymore.
The claim is based on the notion that ‘newness’ is not what it all takes to get an app viral. New apps are being built and offered every day, so smartphone users are bored and tired with all the big talk about what an app can do. Instead, some believe that the future of mobile app development will be more about experience.
What this means is, in simple terms, an emergence of a more highly-advanced smartphone apps that can seamlessly blur the line between a mechanical app and a virtual reality experience. What app developers are looking at is the possibility to delve deeper into app mechanism such as chatbot, augmented reality (AR), and artificial intelligence (AI) which can assist people in tackling communication barrier such as language.
Having said the above points, tech companies are looking into building apps that solely focus on providing service based on user experience.
It is indicated that the success of South African businesses will rely heavily on their mobile presence, be it on a smartphone or a web-based service.
For example, financial institutions are making it their all to develop their very own smartphone apps which will enable users to be connected practically 24/7 to the bank’s services. Functionality such as a chatbot enables users to get immediate service for the most basic banking needs around the clock, every day.
Meanwhile, food delivery businesses are getting pooled into immersive apps that showcase their service hours and menu for customers to browse online. Not only does an app for this minimise waiting time, it also hastens order placement by just a few clicks and swipes.
Experiences like these, which improve people’s quality of life through means of mobile app technology, are seen as the measure for a successful business in the near future.
