SanDisk the global leader in flash memory cards, has moved to take full advantage of the exponential growth in mobile phone usage on the African continent and has invested resources and marketing assets to support and complement this growth. “Africa is currently the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world.
“Over the past five years the continent’s mobile phone use has increased at an annual rate of 65 percent – twice the global average. We signed two distributors in Africa in 2009 and the uplift in sales has been tremendous.” said Tareq Husseini, Sales Director, SanDisk MEA.
Mobile phone penetration rates represent a great opportunity for flash memory on the continent. SanDisk signed a distribution agreement with Tudortech in Johannesburg, a subsidiary of AGA Holdings, in 2001, to cover the South African market supplying to over 4,500 store fronts. Then in 2010, SanDisk signed MiDCOM, owned by the telecommunications division of Midland Group of Companies Ltd., to cover four countries in East Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda, Congo and Togo.
So far this year, first quarter 2011 unit sales with MiDCOM have exceeded sales for the entire year of 2010. South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria lead the continent with its North African countries beginning to make their mark. SanDisk’s product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders; digital audio/video players; USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise; embedded memory for mobile devices; and solid state drives for computers.
