Mr. Ademola Olukotun is the General Manager and Country Manager in Nigeria of Archos SA. He manages the entire Archos business in Nigeria. He is a seasoned product manager with a vast experience in start-up businesses growing them to a world class standard. He was a foundation staff of Visafone Communication Limited (CDMA Network in Nigeria) and was employed by the company’s Chairman, Jim Ovia, in 2007.

He later joined Etisalat Nigeria as one of the foundation staff and also commenced the Devices department of company. He was also a key staff of the network in growing the subscriber base from zero to 15 million subscriber base within five years of launch.

He later worked with Airtel Network Limited as Manager Devices & Partnership and also was a key player in starting up SOLO Phone Nigeria Limited before joining Archos SA this year to manage the Nigeria business for the company. In this interview, he outlines the unique selling points of Archos brand.

Is Nigeria telephone market not  over-saturated to accommodate new entrants?

This depends on the angle you are looking at it. We presently have four major GSM network carriers in Nigeria and one strong CDMA network. Feature phone users versus Smartphone users on each of this network are 80% to 20%. We have over 136 million telephone lines in Nigeria from NCC. This shows that 80 million to 85 million subscribers presently use feature phones. This is the reason why all network operators are trying to encourage subscribers to use data now. Smartphones can only be used to surf the internet. This gives you a number of 80-85 million subscribers prospective Smartphone users in Nigeria. So I believe the market is not saturated. There is still a lot of potential in the telephony market.
   Are your products NCC type-approved and SON-certified?

Yes. All Archos devices have gone through both certifications. I will like to state categorically that Archos is not a green horn in the telephone industry. Archos has been existing since 1988 with so many milestones. For instance Archos is the first brand to launch the first Android tablet in the world.

Over time, we have strategically made an in-road into so many countries like France, Poland, Senegal, Russia, United States of America, Spain, England etc. Archos is one of the leading EU brands. So whatever we do, we adhere strictly to the ethics of the sector.

Unique selling points of Archos  Brands

Archos is not just a brand that is struggling to have good quality. Archos is synonymous with quality. We are enlisted on the New York Stock Exchange. Archos products all have Declaration of Conformity (DoC), Certificate of Engineering (CE).

Archos products are European standard devices with good quality Smartphones and Tablets at very competitive prices. I believe these are unique selling points. The connected objects are also different accessories strictly from our Research and Development units(R&D). These are new innovations that actually set us apart from all other OEMs. So what set us apart are durability of the devices, affordable prices and innovative products.

Your strategic agenda and plans for the Nigerian smartphone market?

I have the vision of making Archos products the choice and preferred brand of smart devices for all classes in Nigeria within a record time. What do I mean by this, Archos plans flooding Nigeria with quality and affordable products. And Archos intends to create a close up and personal relationship with Nigeria and Nigerians. I am a Nigerian and I will ever be proud of being a Nigerian so whatever will impact positively and move Nigeria forward, I am ready to do anything to make that work. Not for myself but also for the future of the new generation. Archos is poised to garner between 30% to 40% market share of the Nigeria smart devices market (Smartphones , tablets and accessories) . In Nigeria today, 80% of the network users use feature phones (purely low end phones without data capabilities). In numbers, this means we have approximately 80 million phone users using feature phones. These feature phone users can gradually step up to use Smartphones. This shows that there is a lot of opportunity to tap into the market.

With the affordable Smartphones from Archos, quality will never be compromised and also customer services will also be key to us.

How do we achieve this herculean task, we intend to provide affordable Smartphones and tablets for Nigerian with world class quality.

Secondly, we will back up all our sales with warranty and after sales service. We are willing to invest heavily into the economy so we are not ready to quit in a hurry, our spread will be strategic and steady.
What should NCC do to check the influx of  inferior brands into Nigeria?

First, I must commend the efforts of NCC and SON because both agencies have been operating with world best practices and they have been sanitizing the sector, coming up with better reforms to improve the service quality of telecoms in Nigeria. It is no longer garbage in, garbage out.

Secondly, I feel they should optimize their laboratory to world class standards to test all devices before they are launched into the market.

Sanction all OEMs without type-approvals of their devices. For instance a brand that cannot be used in any country should not be allowed into the Nigeria market at all, no matter who is bringing it into the country.

Before any device is authorized to be sold in Nigeria, it must be certified through two main bodies – NCC and SON. Unfortunately, some tablets and Smartphones come in without certification.

Your opinion about the Nigeria telecom sector

The global telecom market is still emerging in the sense that new products are introduced into the market daily and technology is equally growing by the seconds. Looking at the telecoms sector 12 years ago in Nigeria, one can say that it is better than when we started. Like any other sector that has its challenges, you can’t exempt telecoms. So I believe that the next five years, Nigeria will be one of the best telecoms countries.

Your range of devices in the Nigerian market at the moment?

We have different ranges. From smartphones – Archos 40C Titanium, Archos 50B Archos Platinum, Archos 50B Oxygen, Archos 50B Neon (All Smartphones).

For tablets, we have Archos 101b XS2 tablets(WIFI only), Archos 101 Xenon, Archos 80b Xenon.

For connected objects, we have the beany hat, Archos virtual reality glasses.

What has the response been since your devices entered the market?

The response has been great.

Ademola Olukotun

General Manager and Country Manager in Nigeria

Mr. Ademola Olukotun is the General Manager and Country Manager in Nigeria of Archos SA. He manages the entire Archos business in Nigeria. He is a seasoned product manager with a vast experience in start-up businesses growing them to a world class standard. He was a foundation staff of Visafone Communication Limited(CDMA Network in Nigeria) and was employed by the company’s Chairman, Jim Ovia, in 2007.

He later joined Etisalat Nigeria as one of the foundation staff and also commenced the Devices department of company. He was also a key staff of the network in growing the subscriber base from zero to 15 million subscriber base within five years of launch.

He later worked with Airtel Network Limited as Manager Devices & Partnership and also was a key player in starting up SOLO Phone Nigeria Limited before joining Archos SA this year to manage the Nigeria business for the company. In this interview, he outlines the unique selling points of Archos brand.