In 2015, Orange launched a feature phone called Kaduda. Kaduda was an acronym for camera, dual-sim capabilities and data, meaning users could access the internet on the phone. Kaduda became insanely popular with Orange Kenya selling over 1 Million devices. The KADUDA was popular for several things. Key among them was the 999/= introductory price point which made it affordable for its target market. The dual-sim capabilities of the devices was another addition. It allowed individuals with multiple SIM cards, a common practice in Kenya to get introduced to the Orange network while maintaining a SIM from other networks.
In May, Orange announced the unveiling of the Kaduda 2.0 an upgrade to last year’s Kaduda phone. Kaduda 2.0 is also a dual-SIM mobile phone. The device packs a 1,200mAh battery that should last several days on a single charge and goes for Kshs 1,100. On this blog, we also talked about the Kaduda Smart device, the company’s new smartphone device retailing for Kshs. 3,999. We recently had a chat with Orange Kenya’s Virginia Waruingi, who is the devices manager at Orange about all things Kaduda. “Kaduda was actually a business risk for us that has really paid off”, she said. “We created the device internally and gave the manufacturer what we felt we needed in a device. This product customization allowed us to give the customer what they really wanted”, she added.
According to her, the launch of Kaduda had a massive ripple effect on Orange products and services with users taking up services such as data. “Kaduda allowed us to dramatically lower the barrier of entry onto the Orange network and most of these users became hooked to our network”, she said. On the Kaduda 2.0, Virginia says it allows the company to create continuity. “The version 2.0 has allowed us elevate a feature phone to a new level with better and improved features at the same price point”. Some of the interesting features on the Version 2.0 include a selfie camera, LED alerts for calls and sms as well as universal charger capabilities.
The company also has an introductory smartphone, the Kaduda Smart. The Kaduda Smart is basically the Blade L110, a low-cost Android smartphone made by Chinese smartphone maker ZTE. Telkom Kenya has quite a history with ZTE when it comes to budget Android devices. The company provided the first generation ZTE Blade which was known as the Orange San Francisco and went on to sell so well and was many a Kenyan Android enthusiast’s first smartphone.
The device was meant to act as a replacement for the widely successful Orange Klif. The Klif was a Kshs 4,000 smartphone that ran on Mozilla’s Firefox OS and sold by Orange Kenya. “The Klif was very popular among our customers and we had great plans with the device going forward”, she said. Firefox OS on mobile was discontinued which meant the death of the Orange Klif too. “We kept getting customers asking about the Orange Klif at our stores. We thought, why not give our customers continuity which led to the birth of the Kaduda Smart.
With the Kaduda smart, Orange sees it as an opportunity to migrate Kenyans towards owning smarthones seeing as there are less than 10 Million people Kenyans. “As more Kenyans acquire these devices, this will be an opportunity for us at Orange to offer them Orange data, basically fostering connectivity”, she added. Upon purchasing your Orange Klif , you will get 2GB free data for a period of 4 Months for topping up with Kshs. 200 airtime. The devices are available in black and white colors and can be purchased at Orange shops.
