The scene at a Kampala mobile shop is typical for the previous few days. A handful of excited customers scramble in an attempt to pick up the latest tech device introduced into the country. “They are all gone, come back in two days,” shouts the shopkeeper, who attempts to force the now perturbed customers through the door. They are all here at this small shop looking for the recent Samsung Galaxy that was launched late last week in the African country. It is one more step on the road to technological advancement, says analysts, and customers are lining up, quite literally, to grab the item. “I will be back to get one because it is so cool,” said one young man as he dashed off down the street. Mobile telecom provider MTN last week unveiled Uganda's second and third Android Technology offerings with the Samsung Galaxy Tablet and the Samsung Galaxy Mini. Analysts believe that the move will help position Samsung into the Ugandan market nicely and will gain the customer following that MTN desires. “We have seen so many efforts over the past few years to try and bolster customers' excitement with new services, reduced rates, but the one thing that seems to keep Ugandans coming to the stores are new products, just like anywhere else in the world,” said John Mugabe, a Zimbabwe telecoms expert living in Kampala. The Android Platform currently comes with more than 200,000 applications and a fast-growing host of application developers worldwide. BM
