Samsung Electronics, the world's top smartphone maker, said Friday it plans to ramp up its presence in Africa's smartphone market through releases of its mobile devices Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Camera.
Samsung Electronics held a launch event Thursday in the South African city of Cape Town where it introduced the two gadgets to mobile carriers and business partners from 50 countries on the continent.
The event is the latest in a series of Samsung's global launch events to introduce the 5.5-inch Galaxy Note 2 phablet, a hybrid of a smartphone and a tablet computer, that comes with a complimentary electronic stylus.
Samsung first unveiled the phablet ahead of the annual IFA technology fair in Berlin in late August and rolled out the model on its home turf late last month.
"The African mobile phone market is shifting to smartphones. Samsung aims to lead the African smartphone market starting with the Galaxy Note 2 launch event," a company executive said during the event.
The mobile device market in Africa, the second-largest in the world, has been growing rapidly on the back of spiking demand for smartphones and the emergence of mid-tier consumers.
Samsung, which first introduced its flagship Galaxy brand on the continent in 2010, claims roughly 35 percent of the regional smartphone market. (Yonhap)