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Once a Leading Player in Kenya’s Mobile Phone Market, Huawei Hopes Budget Phones Will Help It Make a Comeback

by Eric Olander
The new Y Series budget line of smartphones by Huawei is reportedly poised to launch in Kenya. Image via Huawei.

Huawei’s moribund mobile phone business in Kenya is showing signs of life. The company was once among the dominant mobile phone brands in Africa, including Kenya, but that business all but stopped in 2019 when Huawei was sanctioned by the United States and blocked from using Google’s Android mobile operating system on its phones.

Now, though, the company is taking small steps to get back into the Kenyan market with the launch of the new Nova Y series of low-cost smartphones that run on HarmonyOS.

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