Microsoft has launched its first ever branded Lumia Windows phone in Kenya. Lumia 535 is a dual SIM phone which features a 5-inch screen, a 5MP rear camera autofocus with flash and a 5MP back camera in what the company called “triple 5.”
The launch in Kenya, the first in Africa, follows successful global announcement in Berlin on November 10. The device has recorded global phenomenal sales especially in Vietnam and India. The company is targeting middle-income earners with its devices and plans are in the wind to make high-end devices to compete with other phone makers in the market.
“Innovation is our impetus and we are launching products meant for all markets,” said Mariam Abdullahi, GM Microsoft Mobile Device East Africa. Microsoft will continue selling the Nokia Lumia devices available in the market and their partnership will remain. “We are not ending our partnership with Nokia. In fact all these apps available in Lumia 535 are all from Nokia,” said King’ori Gitahi Product Manager at Microsoft East Africa.
Lumia 535 device features offline maps to give direction even when one does not have data bundle. It comes with OneDrive cloud storage with a capacity of 33GB and there are over 350,000 apps available in the AppStore. It will retail at Ksh13,800 and a launch offer at Orange is Kshs 8450 which is Kshs 5350 off for the first 200 buyers at the Orange stores at Mega, Extelcoms, T-Mall, Sarit Centre and Galleria.
