Samsung has released four new mid-level smartphones into the Kenyan market to rival competitors including Tecno, Infinix and Oppo brands.

According to Jumia's White Paper Mobile Report 2018, released in March this year, Tecno is the leading the market with 38% share, followed by Samsung with 17%.

The Report says Kenya is home to 21 million smartphone users, while according to the Communication Authority's (CA) quarterly report for Q2 of the 2017/2018, there are 42 million mobile subscribers.

IDC research in December 2017 confirms that Transsion Group brand Tecno leads in adoption in Africa at 30.1% compared to Samsung at 26.1%.

In Kenya, operators have focused primarily on affordability with high quality features as the main selling point for smartphones.

Samsung believes this is what is being offered through the just-released Galaxy series: J7Duo, J4, J6 and A6+ which will retail from between Ksh 19,000 (US$190) to Kshs 39,000 (US$390).

Charles Kimari, Head of Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics East Africa said, "We are bringing products within the range of affordability but at the same time, keeping premium on the same. It is important to note that they are in the range of what we call our economic level."

Proprietary features such as the Bixby AI assistant, infinity screen (found in the Galaxy S9), low-light photography and up to 32GB storage are included in the new phones.

The smartphone manufacturer has partnered with online marketplace LipaLater to accelerate sales.