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The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

qz.com

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Re: The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

#3

Post by captainmuon »

andor wrote: post #2

The WhatsApp client is not official or licensed, I guess? I wonder how WhatsApp deals with such third-party clients that end up with a large user base?

It might be the WhatsApp java client (J2ME?). At least in the beginning, WhatsApp made a point of being available on as many different devices as possible, including low-end feature phones (java based, symbian, etc.).

Re: The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

#5

Post by andyjohnson0 »

captainmuon wrote: post #3
andor wrote: post #2

The WhatsApp client is not official or licensed, I guess? I wonder how WhatsApp deals with such third-party clients that end up with a large user base?

It might be the WhatsApp java client (J2ME?). At least in the beginning, WhatsApp made a point of being available on as many different devices as possible, including low-end feature phones (java based, symbian, etc.).

http://blog.textit.in/your-path-to-a-$16b-exit-build-a-j2me-...

Re: The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

#7

Post by userbinator »

This is likely a truly unbranded OEM feature phone based on a Mediatek or Spreadtrum reference platform. Resellers then add their own branding to it.

I couldn't find that exact one but a bit of searching turns up similar models:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/9000mAh-long-standby-power-ba...

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Original-H-mobile-X8-4...

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Original-Xiaocai-X6-...

It is a bit surprising at first to see such enormous feature phones still in mass production, but it makes sense that the conditions in developing countries would favour more rugged designs and versatile physical features; in that environment a thin touchscreen smartphone made of mostly glass and metal would be an overly fragile piece of kit with little advantage.

Re: The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

#8

Post by jdmitch »

I just got back from Ghana, where I was evaluating an ICT in education project, and one of the people on the team that was implementing the project had this phone. At first I thought he just had an old phone, then I learned he had downgraded from a smartphone. Then I thought maybe he was doing it for ironic retro style points (which is not really "a thing" in rural northern Ghana in the way it is in London or New York). He did acknowledge a certain smugness about the "anti-style." At the end of the day, it seemed like the practical durability and the long battery life were the clinchers for his decision to "downgrade".

Re: The mystery of the power bank phone taking over Ghana

#10

Post by shubhamjain »

I think being a power bank + a phone is the major reason why it is getting so much attention - "Hey, I ought to buy a power bank, so why not this one which will give phone features too." Considering that the cost of this phone is almost equal to a good power bank, people would definitely chose this over others. I think this is an awesome example of giving something + some additional features equating to viral growth, even if the other features are not that good.

Do we have an equivalent of that in software world?

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