Jamaicans fall in love with Digicel's DL600 and DL700 during Christmas 2013 - Sub-US$100 smartphones driving rapid smartphone adoption in Jamaica as Manufacturing is Possible

The numbers aren’t yet in, and in fact may never be, but from all accounts the Telecom Providers had a sellout 2013 especially as it relates to smartphones as stated in “Surge In Sales Of Smartphones”, Published Friday December 27, 2013 by Richard Browne, The Jamaica Gleaner.

It would seem that smartphones packed with great performance priced below JA$10,000 hit the sweet spot with many customer looking for smartphones this year as predicted by my blog article entitled “Samsung Galaxy smartphones and Blackberrys are tops on Jamaican Searches according to Google Trends - Importation Guide to Selling smartphone to Jamaicans”.

DL600, DL700 – LIME 2 day JA$100 3G Data Plan set to make a comeback

The Digicel DL600 and the Digicel DL700 are the main smartphones for the Christmas as predicted and confirmed from my blog article entitled “Digicel has launched the DL700, an upgrade to the DL600 on Friday December 6th 2013 - The Alcatel One Touch Pop C3 is Digicel’s latest Unicorn that may be harder to catch”.

Telecom Provider LIME is apparently hot on Digicel’s Comet Tail, even copying their swag in redesigning their Corporate Sales Office on Carlton Crescent as noted in my blog article entitled “LIME rolls out Redesigned Main Store at Carlton Crescent in a 2 Year Battle against Digicel - Digicel still dangerous with cheaper Data, the DL600 smartphone and Postpaid Digihome”.

Telecom Provider LIME appears to be in the early stages of reviving the free offer of a Alcatel One Touch T’Pop free on the purchase of a JA$300 Data Plan for thirty (30) day Internet access with 2 days worth JA$100 as stated in my blog article entitled “LIME Jamaica introduces 30-day Data Plans for JA$300 and a free Alcatel One Touch T'Pop - How the Butler started the Smartphone Data Revolution”.

So Clearly BOTH Telecom Provider LIME and Telecom Provider Digicel did well during the Christmas holiday!

Sub-US$100 smartphone prices drives a faster smartphone adoption in Jamaica

That’s what eventually prompted me to do the follow-up article suggesting Google Android smartphone alternatives as listed in my blog article entitled “Apple iPhone 5S coming to Jamaica on LIME but not everyone wants it - Comparison of the Top 5 Android Alternatives to the Apple iPhone 5s for Jamaicans wanting a smartphone”.

I knew Jamaican would be desirous of having a smartphones as the ultimate tech gift in the face of the drool worthy yet expensive Apple iPhone 5S. Phablets seem to be getting a second wind as noted in my blog article entitled “Samsung Galaxy Note III is an excellent alternative to the Apple iPhone - Phablet competition from the HTC One Max and the Sony Xperia Z Ultra signals long lasting trend”.

Even here in Jamaica I’ve sported these ginormous and uber-expensive smartphones! Not sure how long this trend will last, or even if Jamaicans may eventually become like the East Asians and adopt flip phone smartphones as noted in my blog article entitled “Samsung launches a third flip Feature smartphone, the SM-W2014 - Quad-Core Processor in yet another oversized smartphone indicates Retro Trend among South Koreans and Chinese”.

I do admit, though, that it wouldn’t be too bad if we made smartphones and Tablets as well as urged by Brian Pengelley, President of the Jamaica Manufacturer’s Association of (JMA) as opined in  “Ja, like Haiti, can make tablets”, Published Friday January 3, 2014, by Richard Browne, Business Reporter, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This as our poorest neighbour Haiti already makes them with Telecom Provider Digicel as a client as noted in the article “Rival manufacturers launch ventures to build Android tablets in Haiti”, published Friday, December 27, 2013 4:58 PM, The Jamaica Observer and “Rival tablet manufacturers launch in Haiti”, Published Sunday  December 29, 2013, The Jamaica Gleaner.

But that’s speculation for another article, dear reader!

Cheaper smartphones coming – Jamaica can make some of those smartphones and Tablets

So it’s settled then. Sub US$100 smartphone prices drive a faster smartphone adoption in Jamaica. A Boon to The Jamaica Gleaner and the Jamaica Observer who might be considering to put up a Paywall as reported in my blog article entitled “The Jamaica Gleaner’s US$9.99 Paywall goes live on Thursday January 2nd 2014 - News is no longer free as Tomorrow Never Dies for The Paper Man”.

Look out for the US$179 Motorola Moto X coming to Jamaica via Telecom Provider Digicel or Telecom Provider LIME, whoever snags the contract first as prognosticated in my blog article entitled “US$179 Moto G debut on Wednesday November 11 2013 from Motorola - Google's Quad-Core Budget smartphone is Free Birds for the Lost 500 million sheep”.

We already have the potential to extract Rare Earth Metals for RDA (Residue Disposal Area) Red Mud that can fuel our manufacture of everything from LED (Light Emitting Diodes) to sapphire Screens which we can export to the rest of the World as demand for them is now very high as noted in my blog article entitled “No news on progress of the Rare Earth Pilot Plant at JBI - Cuba-Jamaica CFL Project Heralds manufacturing of LED's, Li-Ion Batteries and Sapphire Screens in Jamaica”.

And now with Haiti as inspiration, we may be able to make them too as our love for them grows!