Samsung Electronics has launched a consumer empowerment campaign against stolen, used and counterfeit phones in East Africa as a way to increase its market share in the region. The company has set up an SMS (Short Message Service) application that allows consumers to check whether a phone has a warranty, was stolen or sold as secondhand. Samsung has provided a short code for consumers to send a phone's IMEA number and receive a status report on the phone. "The region has a lot of phones imported from Dubai and they are not covered by warranty, mobile phone theft is rampant and in some cases unscrupulous businesspeople just change the cover of a secondhand phone and sell it like new," said Patricia King'ori, Samsung General manager, mobile phones division, East and Central Africa. The Samsung campaign is targeting Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, and will eventually be rolled out in 15 countries in East and Central Africa. Samsung commands 15 percent of Kenya's handset...