After dethroning Nokia as the number one global phone vendor earlier this year, Samsung is now looking to eat away more of the Finnish phone giant’s feature phone share via its new Chief Hero dual-SIM mobile phone. The Samsung Chief Hero is a GPRS smart dual-SIM phone designed for the budget buyers.

According to Jaco van Zyl, product manager of the HHP Business Group at Samsung Africa, the Korean tech giant saw a need for mobile phones that suit the unique needs of developing countries and more importantly, Africa, after the launch of its Chief range earlier this year.

Samsung is now looking to capitalise on this need by making the Chief Hero mobile phone available as of early September throughout the region. No pricing info is available yet.

The firm stated that a significant percentage of mobile phone users in Africa carry multiple SIM cards in order to take advantage of the different pricing plans on offer from the various operators. Samsung’s Chief Hero allows these users to automatically switch between two SIM cards, without having to carry an additional handset or turn off their phone to swop out a SIM. In addition, the phone also supports 13 African languages the likes of Yoruba, Swahili and Igbo.

The Samsung Chief Hero supports GPRS dual band technology and boasts a 1.8" TFT (non-touch) display, FM Radio, and a 1 000 mAh battery that the company says will deliver 11 hours of talk time and 550 hours of standby time.

“Whether users want to take advantage of different calling plans, or want to keep their business and personal calls separate, Always On Smart dual-SIM handsets provides the convenience of two cell phones with one-mobile solution. There is a perception that low-cost mobile phones are not reliable. Samsung is proud to say that our Chief Hero is not only cost-effective and reliable, but it is also ultra-durable – and with great battery life, and African local language support – the Samsung Chief Hero is certainly designed with the African consumer in mind,” concluded Van Zyl.

In related news, Samsung also recently unveiled its Apple iPod touch rivalling 5.8" Galaxy Player.