By Juliet Umeh
Nigerians’ smartphone brands, Tecno, Itel, and Infinix, have braced the odds of economic headwinds to push Africa’s smartphone market by 17.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2024.
The smartphones, manufactured by Transsion Holdings accounted for the largest share of smartphone shipments across Africa.
According to a report from the International Data Corporation, IDC, smartphone shipments in Africa surged by 17.9% year-on-year (YoY), reaching 20.2 million units in the first quarter of 2024.
This quarter marked a significant milestone as smartphone shipments outpaced feature phone shipments, which saw a decline of 15.9% to 18.8 million units, indicating a clear transition towards smartphone adoption across the continent.
A senior research analyst at IDC Arnold Ponela said, Nigeria witnessed robust growth fueled by the success of Transsion brands and Xiaomi in the entry-level segment, significantly boosting shipments.
He said: “In Q1 2024, Transsion brands such as Tecno, Itel, and Infinix maintained their leading position in terms of market share, thanks to their compelling entry-level device portfolio tailored to the African market.
“However, Samsung and Xiaomi gained market share over the previous quarter, driven by mid-range models priced between $200 and $400. Overall, shipments of smartphones in this price range increased, while shipments of devices priced below $100 declined, reflecting a growing consumer preference for feature-rich models,” he added.
Tecno Mobile is one of the leading mobile manufacturing companies in Africa. Its first research and development centre was in Shanghai, China and it began operations in July 2006. Tecno focused its business on Africa and the South Asian market. However, following market research conducted in South-East Asia, Africa and Latin America, the company found that Africa was the most lucrative region. As a result of this, in 2008, it stopped doing business in Asia to exclusively focus on Africa. The Tecno Camon helped the mobile phone manufacturer compete with market share of Samsung, and Apple in Africa. Tecno has a presence in 12 countries in Africa with an average market share of 20% in each country.
Tecno Mobile was founded as Tecno Telecom Limited, but later changed its name to Transsion Holdings with Tecno Mobile serving as one of its subsidiaries.
Infinix Mobile is a Hong Kong-based smartphone manufacturer that was founded in 2013. The company has research and development centres in France and Korea. Infinix mobile phones are manufactured in China. Infinix is available in about 60 countries in the world and popular in the African market especially Nigeria and also Pakistan.
In January 2007, Transsion officially launched a second mobile brand Itel, starting a dual-brand strategy, with Infinix making it a trio-brand strategy. In February, Itel launched its smartphone series iNote, targeting the African market with high product performance and reasonable price.