Konga, Apple deal: Shoppers get 2-year warranty, free airtime - ITREALMS

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Couetesy of the latest deal between ecommerce leader Konga and world-renowned technology company, Apple, shoppers in Nigeria are now able to buy original mobile and computing devices online as well as win free airtime on purchases, reports ITREALMS.

With the coming together of both technology giants, authentic products from Apple such as the iPhone, Mac, iWatch among other exciting accessories are readily available for purchase directly from the Konga online store at the click of a button.

‘Konga launches authorised online store for Apple products’ - ITREALMS

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African electronic commerce leader, Konga has launched an authorised online store in Nigeria for Apple products, reports ITREALMS.

The store, ITREALMS gathered took off on Friday, December 15, 2023.

Apple, Qualcomm seal deal on 5G modems - ITREALMS

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Apple has sealed a deal with Qualcomm Technologies for the Fifth Generation (5G) modems to be used in iPhones released over the three years from 2024, reports ITREALMS.

The latest deal, ITREALMS gathered, will extend a supply relationship between the pair for Snapdragon 5G Modem Radio Frequency (RF) Systems and was announced the day before Apple was expected to unveil its latest batch of iPhones.

Nokia, Apple sign long-term patent license agreement - ITREALMS

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Nokia has entered into a new deal with Apple which has been tagged a long-term patent license agreement, reports ITREALMS.

The new licensing, ITREALMS gathered, is expected to recognize the revenue related to this new patent license agreement starting in January 2024.

Apple appoints TD Africa, first indigenous distributor for Nigeria - ITREALMS

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After a painstaking study of the Nigerian market and search for an indigenous distribution company with proven capacity and sound ethical standards, world’s leading technology company Apple Inc. has appointed TD Africa the first authorised indigenous distributor of the company’s products in Nigeria.

The landmark development, which is regarded as a demonstration of faith in Nigeria and in line with Apple’s focus on Inclusion & Diversity, will see TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest distributor of technology, services and lifestyle products add Apple to an impressive list of globally renowned Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) on its portfolio.

Airtel introduces iPhone 5s in Nigeria

ITRealms:

Telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has announced a strategic partnership, leading to formal introduction of Apple’s latest in stock iPhone 5s into the Nigeria’s market, reports ITRealms.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Segun Ogunsanya who was represented by the Director, Products and Innovations, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Nitin Anand, told ITRealms that the partnership offers telecoms consumers across the country an opportunity to purchase the iPhones in Airtel showrooms nationwide or from the outlets of its channel/retail partners including Slot.

He also described the partnership with Apple as the coming together of two great brands, maintaining the partnership is a demonstration of Apple’s trust in Airtel and indeed in Nigeria. 

Further, ITRealms gathered that the partnership underscores Airtel’s unwavering commitment to its vision of becoming Nigeria’s number 1 mobile Internet service provider.

“At Airtel Nigeria, we believe that the future of mobile telephony is mobile Internet and so we are repositioning to revolutionize this landscape with innovative value offerings and strategic partnerships,” he said.

Stressing that the partnership with Apple is a glowing testimony to our desire to lead with Internet. Our enviable track record also provides us a leverage to empower more Nigerians to enjoy super-fast Internet services on their devices and mobile phones on the Airtel network,” he said.

Ogunsanya further said that Airtel is currently embarking on a wide-scale expansion, modernization and transformation of its network.

“Our goal is to ensure that telecoms consumers enjoy the best experience on VOICE, VISUAL and VIDEO as they engage and connect with friends and family members as well as transact their businesses on the Airtel network,” he said.

The iPhone 5s is described by telecoms pundits as the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world. iPhone 5s sets a precedent, with an amazing amount of technology in a remarkably thin, light design. It builds on that achievement with Touch ID — a fingerprint identity sensor. An A7 chip with 64-bit architecture. An even more impressive iSight camera. And ultrafast LTE wireless.

Customers who wish to purchase the iPhone 5s can also buy the device from the retail outlets of Apple’s official distributor in Nigeria, Core Group Africa (CGA).

The launch of the iPhone 5s held at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos and it attracted several telecoms consumers including prominent journalists, select youths, Airtel’s channel partners and other stakeholders within the telecoms value chain.

The launch was graced by the chief executive officer of Slot Nigeria Limited, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, Country Manager, iStore Africa, Mr. Sachin Verma, Director, Products and Innovations, Airtel Nigeria, Nitin Anand and Director, Marketing and Brands, Airtel Nigeria, Mr Obinna Anichie among others.

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Apple topples Coca as No. 1 brand globally – Interbrand

ITRealms:

The latest brand analytics from Interbrand, a consulting firm has shown that Apple is now the most valuable brand globally.

ITRealms gathered that based on Interbrand findings, especially with the iPhone 5 by Apple, the brand was reported to have been valued at $98.3 billion, about N15,880,625,069,973.41 trillion by Interbrand.

According to the report today, Monday, Interbrand, a corporate identity and brand consulting company owned by the Omnicom Group that has been compiling what it calls the Best Global Brands report since 2000. The previous No. 1 brand, Coca-Cola, fell to No. 3.

Additionally, the report showed that not only has Apple overtaken Coca-Cola as first among the 100 most valuable brands based on criteria that include financial performance, Interbrand said, this is the first time Coca has not been No. 1 in almost a decade.

Global chief executive at Interbrand, Jez Frampton, had recently noted that Apple’s emergence was perchance “A matter of time” just as ITRealms recalls that Apple was No. 2 last year, climbing from No. 8 in the 2011 report.

“What is it they say, ‘Long live the king’? This year, the king is Apple,” He asserted.

Part of the 2013 report stated: “Every so often, a company changes our lives, not just with its products, but with its ethos. This is why, following Coca-Cola’s 13-year run at the top of Best Global Brands, Interbrand has a new No. 1 — Apple.”

In addition, the value of the Coca-Cola brand also rose, by 2 per cent to $79.2 billion, but that was not sufficient to give Coca-Cola a 14th year as Interbrand’s most valuable brand, as Apple clinched it with $98.3 billion.

Although “Coca-Cola is an efficient, outstanding brand marketer, no doubt about it,” Mr. Frampton said, Apple and other leading technology brands have become “very much the poster child of the marketing community.”

That is underscored by the brand in second place in the new report: Google, which rose from fourth place last year. In fact, of the top 10 Best Global Brands for 2013, five are in technology: Apple; Google; Microsoft, No. 5, unchanged from last year; Samsung, 8, compared with 9 last year; and Intel, 9, compared with 8 last year.

Samsung’s ascent followed the company’s adoption of a new brand strategy called the Brand Ideal, which includes “a greater focus on social purpose,” Sue Shim, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Samsung, said by e-mail. That reflected research indicating American consumers would switch brands to “one that was associated with improving people’s lives,” she added.

International Business Machines (IBM) was ranked No. 4 in 2013, down a notch from 2012, is ranked as a business services brand. Otherwise, technology would account for six of the top 10.

“Brands like Apple and Google and Samsung are changing our behavior: how we buy, how we communicate with each other, even whether we speak with each other,” Mr. Frampton said. “They have literally changed the way we live our lives.”

Among other transformative technology brands that performed well in the new report was Facebook, which climbed to 52 from 69 last year, its first year on the list.

However, in Nigeria, ITRealms also gathered that Apple iStore in Ikeja Shopping Mall is the home for everything Apple in Nigeria, according to the Executive Director, Rutger-Jan Spaandonk.

Further, ITRealms recalls that Apple iStore at Ikeja is the authorised Apple reseller in Nigeria and has several initiatives since the store opened for business, including plans to offer free training to customers on Apple hardware and software.

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Pix: Apple iPhone 5c, with additional report from New York Times.

How tech-giants promote child-labour

Over the past decade, consumer electronics have become a cornerstone to most people across the world and if they are like most Nigerians, they probably own a cell phone, computer and at least one television, but the question no one seems to be asking is ‘Where do all these gadgets come from?’

It would amaze you to know that these electronics products are manufactured in some of these cities, namely Reynoza in Mexico; Jaszerbereny and Polgar in Hungary; Chennai in India; Hanoi in Vietnam; and Pathum Thani in Thailand, but some of the leading electronics makers may have contributed adversely to impoverishing the world children, through child labour.

Some of the beneficiaries of this situation include Samsung, Apple, General Electronics, Nokia, Motorola, Dell, Panasonic and dozens more, who are direct or indirectly contributing to child labour at the countries where they have assembling plants, based on poor wage apart from poor working conditions.

It was also discovered that 36 per cent of all children under 14 were employed in manufacturing during the period under review, while the average work day for each child is 10 hours.

According to a recent research by Jen Rhee, a Master student, an estimated 90 per cent of American adults live in a household with at least one cell phone, 59 per cent of American adults own a desktop computer, 52 per cent own a laptop computer; while 96 per cent of American households have at least one television and more than half of homes have at least three.

Additionally, the report says that China is responsible for one third (1/3) of the global electronics manufacturing, wondering, however, where the other 2/3 come from?

In view of the research, DigitalSENSE News discovered that five manufacturing plants produce bulk of the world’s television sets, computers, cell phones GPS systems, tablets, and cameras that populate homes, invariably for various brands and aforementioned brands precisely.

These electronics products, the research added were produced. Reynoza in Mexico; Jaszerbereny and Polgar, Hungary; Chennai, India; Hanoi, Vietnam; Pathum Thani, Thailand, maintaining that 36 per cent of all children under 14 were employed in manufacturing as at the time of the research, while the average work day for each child is 10 hours.

Remarkably, estimated at the report stated that after explosions at an Apple supplier plant in China in 2010, many of the company’s factories came under scrutiny.

“Of 127 Chinese Apple supplier plants audited in 2010, 80 had not properly stored or handled hazardous chemicals; 41 did not dispose of hazardous waste as required by law; 37 did not monitor and control air emissions and 11 had waste water problems,” part of the report conducted under MastersDegree.net read.

They pointed out that when other gadget suppliers were examined, it became clear that Apple did not fall far from the tree and companies like Samsung, General Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Dell, Panasonic, and some more from these manufacturing capitals have extremely poor wages.

On daily average, the report says wages range between $8.9, about N1,403.08 to $190, about N29,953.50, citing for instance that the United States tops the factory cities with $190 followed by Jaszerbereny and Polgar in Hungary  with $13.3; Hanoi - $3.3, Reynosa - $4.52, Pathum Thani $7.19 and Chennai - $8.9.

“These companies don’t just pay poorly, they’ve also been found to employ children (child labour); face threats of suicide; face employee protests and be negligent in handling waste; as poor working conditions allow you to get your gadgets a little cheaper, but is it worth it?”

 Remmy Nweke

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