Maybe Great Idea Thursday. We don’t buy devices with every new release in Kenya, you either slap that TV back to life or go to a repair shop…
Buying a new device or electronic in Kenya or generally Africa is not something people do with every new phone release like it is in Europe or America. Here one device can last a consumer 3 to 7 years depending on how well they take care of it. It is not uncommon to find people using mobile phones with cracked screens, back covers loosely fitting or with faulty speakers for years without buying a new one.
As long as it still works most people usually see no need of getting another. This could be due to a number of reasons ranging from, a lack of disposable income, prices of the electronics to “it is just a Kenyan thing”.
This same scenario applies to laptops and computers; these can last more than 10 years for a lot of people before an upgrade is done.
In 2015 while in my 3rd year at university, my laptop along with four others belonging to friends were stolen while we had stepped out for lunch. It seemed the thief had been scouting the place for a while before finally hitting the jackpot.
This was the second laptop I had lost since I joined university thus there was no way I was going to be telling my parents that my laptop had been stolen, again. Luckily for me, I had friends who were doing computer technology and computer engineering and in their free time they would repair damaged computers for students in the university (this actually went on to be the first company we formed, good times) so there were old disposed of but usable laptops missing a few parts laying around but these parts could also be found easily.
One of my friends, Nigel, had one such laptop laying around. He had also used it for years. It had broken hinges, no battery, a faulty charger, would overheat and sounded like a broken down “matatu” among other not so positive attributes, but it would boot up and it worked. All it needed was a hard disk which another friend got and I was good to go.
If someone even slightly touched the charging cable, the laptop would shut down, this was quite frustrating especially while working with Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. This laptop served me for 3 years after which I handed it over to somebody else so it could continue its service. It became the laptop we touch before good things happen.
How do these devices last this long? Repair shops.
There are phone and laptop repair shops that dot every major city or town in Kenya. These shops help with simple repairs such as cracked screens to more complex computer repairs that border neurosurgery. Depending on the extent of the damage, one can pay a few hundred Kenya shillings to possibly a foot and a neck but generally the price of a repair is usually quite low as compared to getting a new device and this is why many people prefer a repair than getting a new device. It would also be better to save up and get a new device but being that money comes and goes quite fast in these parts of the world this is a thought that is rarely entertained by most.
So what are talking about here?
There are very many repairs that are done on thousands of electronics every year but there is no way of tracking these repairs as they are done quite randomly and informally. There is no way of tracking which parts on these electronics/devices get spoiled the most and which parts are repaired or replaced frequently, what do the consumers complain about most as far as smartphones are concerned?
The Idea.
A simple app or web app that can be used by repair shops to keep records of their repairs, track customer orders and get analytics on which parts get spoilt often so that they can be well equipped for future repairs as well as parts sourcing and ordering. Another offering would be to provide financing/credit to these repair shops as you would then know how well the business is doing by checking their repair orders. The financing can help them buy better equipment and the necessary tools for quality service provision.
The data from this app can provide insight to manufacturers of these devices as to how large this repair industry is in Africa both in terms of financials and job creation. The data can also help design phones that can really work for the African market where consumption is more about “I need it” rather than “I want it”. If people buy phones less often, what more can be provided to create more value for the manufacturer, retailer and consumer? I believe the answer lays with repairs.
Think this can work? Discuss and innovate.
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