At the beginning of the year we spoke with Huawei’s Akhram Mohamed, VP of Operations for South Africa, discussing the prospect of smart TVs coming into the country.
During that chat Mohamed was fairly candid, stating that scale and cost were influential factors in terms of launching Huawei-branded smart TVs in South Africa. Now, with a few more months passing since that discussion, we picked it up again with him at the local launch of the P60 Pro and Mate X3 last week during a media roundtable.
As Mohamed explained, those issues cited previously are still a factor for the company, but there was more optimism from the VP about seeing smart TVs at local retailers, although a precise date or window was not hinted at.
Careful consideration
“It’s the same as the last time. We were talking about the channel market, and we’re engaging with the channel to find ways in which we can overcome those challenges that we spoke about,” he said.
Mohamed also pointed to past new categories that the company entered in for SA, and how a measured approach was taken, leading to some stellar results.
“For now it is still the same, but if we are able to find that route, and find a way to get it done, we will. We’ve previously discussed issues like import duties, to put it in a South African context, and even when we (Huawei) brought in PCs, we were a new player to the market and had to compete with the Dells and HPs of the world,” noted Mohamed.
The VP unpacked how Huawei was able to win many local consumers over with its MateBook D offering in particular.
“The channel selection is important, the pricing is important. We thought very carefully about our PCs, and when we launched within the channels, we did not go everywhere in South Africa. We did not launch every SKU, as we had to be selective about which SKU in South Africa. When we launched in Incredible Connection (now just Incredible) as an example, for that price band we ranked in the top three within a three month period. Heading into the next quarter for that price band, we were number one. It’s not just about being number one, however, it is about building that confidence, knowing what you are doing, and engaging with consumers who are willing to support that,” he emphasised.
Don’t call them smart TVs
“So similarly when you talk about smart screens, and we call them smart screens, it’s not a television, the current manufacturers that are in the market now, they have TVs. Maybe their operating systems can be considered smart, but it’s not truly smart,” contested Mohamed.
Here he expanded upon the smart ecosystem that Huawei has been looking to make a reality in South Africa before the US sanctions even, with HarmonyOS and smart TVs potentially playing a big role in that goal.
“With the Huawei smart screens, you are talking about something that is a smart hub for your entire home. Whether you’re talking about home automation, home security, communication, as well as entertainment, it is all in one,” he enthused.
“It’s a different segment of product, so the go-to market strategy needs to be very clear, as well as the communication and marketing strategy, and the feasibility study. So is there appetite from us? Absolutely, because South Africa is an important market, but it also has to make sense and do it the right way.”
It therefore looks like Huawei smart TVs smart screens are on the cards for South Africa, but it has to make sense for the company before that happens. Hopefully, that wait is not too long.
[Image – Photo by Andres Jasso on Unsplash]
