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Toneo Tonderai Rutsito

The decision to buy a new smartphone is centred on many factors that are as simple as personal love and attachment to the looks and feel of a smartphone. Very few people however take into consideration the availability of spares and technical or service support for the phones that they want to buy. I know of many cellphones that are literally dumped after a small technical problem simply because one has failed to find spares or support of the smartphone that literally renders the cellphone useless.

Zimbabwe has seen a rise in local cellphone suppliers and distributors who are now offering guarantees and warranties over their products that gives you comfort and peace of mind after purchasing your mobile device.

Local players have played a major role in making sure that they come in to fill the void. While major global cellphone manufactures like Samsung, Apple and Huawei almost have got spares available due to the popularity of their brands, the same problem often befalls many Zimbabweans especially when they launch their latest smartphones.

Common problems include but are not limited to touch screen replacement, charging port issues, mouth and earpiece support which are often fragile and need frequent replacement.

Besides these support issues, it also makes a strong business case for these local players to replace and repair their own phones, since they still get to charge a reasonable fee for the support service to cushion their customer.

Gtel Zimbabwe, Huawei and Astro are some of the local players that all offer different warranty packages for their customers and have already taken the market by storm as millions of Zimbabweans are finally finding comfort and developing confidence in their products.

Huawei an internationally acclaimed brand has developed a huge local market that is sustainable and have been well received by the Zimbabwe market, while globally they have maintained the world’s third smart phone maker position.

Gtel has gone through serious market dynamics and branding, which started as G-tide, they have dumped the old brand name and brought in the Gtel brand that has reliable and full support smartphones with local warranty and guarantee in Zimbabwe, probably one of the fastest selling nationwide.

Astro has jumped on the same bandwagon with free touch screen replacements for their latest slide series, giving its customers peace of mind.

Another major advantage of buying local is the trade in and upgrades promotion that these players often have.

Local producers also offer flexible monthly installments payment option that has boosted sales.

Such initiatives have directly moved Zimbabwe’s mobile and data penetration rate up as the cost of cellphones and flexible terms have allowed thousands to be first time owners of cellphones in Zimbabwe.

These are serious benefits that one accesses by simply buying local which more importantly guarantees full ownership of a cellphone to any user with world class support, especially if you buy directly from the shops you can claim your warranty.

The Writer is the editor of TechnoMag, Zimbabwe’s Premier Technology Magazine, more in depth on www.technomag.co.zw. Twitter @TechnoMagZw and Yout use TechnoMagZw Join our whatsapp group 263 773 828 407