China's Huawei Technologies has changed its strategy in Kenya this month to showcase an affordable $100-200 range of smartphones, hoping the increased sales will boost its local market share, the company's country manager said on Thursday.

Huawei is ranked number three in the fast-growing local smart devices market, behind South Korea's Samsung Electronics (ssnlf, +6.33%) and Tecno, owned by Hong Kong's Transsion Holdings.

Derek Du, the local boss of Huawei, said the company had started offering three smartphones with retail prices starting at 8,999 shillings ($87) to 22,999 shillings ($220), as part of a strategy to lift its market share in that segment from 4% to 15%.

"We did not pay attention to the models below $200 but this year we are changing the strategy to focus on both," he said.

Safaricom, the biggest operator with 72% market share or 28 million users, said there are 13 million smartphones on its network, up from 10 million last year.

Consumers have been giving up their well-worn feature phones to take advantage of relatively fast Internet speeds and applications such as WhatsApp(fb, +0.40%) and those that facilitate banking and taxi-hailing services.

The new focus on the lower end of the market came about because the Kenyan consumer is "price-sensitive," Du said.

"The $100-200 this is the key part we can play. If we can bring it up, it means we will also bring up the whole market share," Du said.

He said that will help the firm to boost its overall market share to 25-30%, from the current 14%, in the next two years.

The annual average Kenyan wage is $1,200, official figures show, so most people cannot afford expensive smartphones.

Huawei previously focused on the mid-range of smartphones, where it has a 30% market share. It also sells the premium "Mate" series phones in the Kenyan market for the well-heeled.

Huawei, which is based in Shenzhen, China, competes withApple(aapl, +1.04%) and other devices vendors for global consumers.

"Kenya's economy is very stable. It attracts many investors to it. Surely, we will pay attention to this market," Du said.

中国华为技术公司在肯尼亚的经理表示，公司本月调整了在该国的策略，开始销售价格在100-200美元之间的实惠手机，希望借此增加销量，提高在当地的市场占有率。

肯尼亚的智能设备市场正在迅速发展，华为在当地的市场占有率名列第三，位于韩国的三星电子和香港传音控股的Tecno之后。

这里的华为主管德里克·杜表示，公司上架了三款新的智能手机，零售价最低为8,999先令（87美元），最高为22,999先令（220美元），以此作为将该市场的占有率从4%提升至15%的战略之一。

他说：“我们之前没有关注200美元以下的机型，但是今年我们调整了战略，两方面都要重视。”

肯尼亚最大的运营商Safaricom拥有72%的市场份额，用户数达到2,800万。公司表示联网手机数已从去年的1,000万增加到今年的1,300万。

消费者已经开始放弃老旧的功能机，转而利用相对较快的互联网速度，使用诸如WhatsApp或其他银行、打车服务相关的应用。

杜表示，公司之所以开始注重低端市场，是因为肯尼亚人“对价格很敏感”。

他说：“100-200美元的段位将成为我们的主打领域。如果我们能把它做好，就意味着整个市场的占有率都会提高。”

他表示，此举将帮助公司在未来两年内把整体的市场占有率从现在的14%提高到25%至30%。

官方数据显示，肯尼亚人的年均收入为1,200美元，所以大部分人都买不起昂贵的智能手机。

华为之前把重心放在中端机型上，目前在该领域的市场占有率已经达到了30%。公司还为肯尼亚的富人提供了高端的“Mate”机型。

这家位于中国深圳的公司正在与苹果和其他手机厂商竞争全球各地的消费者。

杜表示：“肯尼亚的经济很稳定，吸引了许多投资者。显然，我们要关注这一市场。”（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正