UC Browser, China’s largest mobile browser is launching in Kenya. With a 20 percent global market share (as of February 2016), UC Browser is currently the leading mobile browser in china and has also risen rapidly in a number of emerging markets, like India and Indonesia.
China boasts the highest number of Smartphone users in the world. In Africa, the number of Smartphone users continue to increase rapidly too. The company says Chinese mobile internet interests are beginning to expand outside of the mainland to a more international audience that is why they are launching in Kenya and other African countries.
They say African and Asian mobile users have something in common; they both have become a mobile-first population. Most of these users use their smartphones as their primary – sometimes only – internet-enabled device. This means more functionality needs to be built into phones and apps, something which UC Browser says they know all too well.
The UC Browser works more like a content aggregator rather than just a simple browser, and allows people to get more out of their browsing experience in fewer clicks.
By coming to Africa and Kenya, UC Browser joins Opera Mini Browser which has become so common in the continent. UC Browsers says they will stand out from Opera’s competition by providing something local users need such a fast browsing speed and strong download performance in the mobile.
With UC Browser, users will have all-in-one experience on the UC browser without having to install other apps.
“The past few years have seen fast-lane growth in Smartphone shipments in Kenya. Riding on the Smartphone shift, UC Browser crafted a flurry of handy features, such as its Smart Downloader, Video Player and Gesture Support, to fully exploit the versatility of the Smartphone, making mobile browsing easier and smarter for its users”, says the Director of International Business Department of UC Web.
Its mission they says is to make browsing experience better and faster and more localized strategies in Africa.
As for our launch in African Market UC Browser will focus on six main countries: Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sudan and Ghana. They says their product team are trying to make UC Browser operate more fluently in Africa and more customized for African users, for example the news section keeps updating with local news. In Ethiopia, they have even optimized the UC Browser to show the websites in Amharic in a better way.
“By announcing its official launch in Africa, UC Browser aims to target Opera directly, which is already a market leader. The fight between these two giants has already started in other markets. Having lost Asia, one of the most prominent markets, Opera now is facing another hard battle in Africa. UC Browser is tailored to cater to local services giving local users an extra value for their specific needs including fast browsing speed and access to a wide range of local content. The browser also provides an all-in-one experience that makes in unnecessary for users to install numerous apps” Kenny Ye, UC Browser General Manager of global market
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