The smartphone market in Africa shows that Apple is not Samsung’s only serious opponent. The Transsion Group (Tecno) has cause for concern in strategic markets.
The smartphone market leader in Africa is not called Samsung // Source: Frandroid
Samsung is number 1 in smartphones worldwide, but not necessarily in every region of the world. An important nuance that is particularly evident in the recent data from Canalys.
The analysis house creates a top 5 smartphone brands in various strategic markets. The opportunity to discover that Lenovo/Motorola and TCL are doing well in Europe, but also to be interested in the African continent.
The Top 5 Smartphone Brands in Africa
Here are the five biggest players in the smartphone market in Africa in the third quarter of 2023.
- crossing – 48%
- Samsung – 26%
- Xiaomi – 11%
- Oppo – 4%
- Realme – 3%
Transsion (Tecno) is the number 1 smartphone in Africa // Source: Canalys via ITHome
There are several interesting things to note. Some will note Apple’s absence from this ranking. Not surprisingly, users in many developing countries in Africa are not turning to expensive iPhones.
The huge transition
We also see that Africa is one of those famous markets where Samsung is not a leader. In some of the affected countries, the South Korean brand is certainly number 1, but across the continent the Transsion Group is ahead – by a wide margin.
But who is Transsion? An unknown company? Not far from here. Anyone who follows the smartphone market at all has probably come across this name before. Transsion Holdings is the parent company of the Tecno, Itel and Infinix brands and the company can be proud of being a giant in its own right in the industry.
The Tecno brand in particular relies heavily on Africa, where it has a strong presence. And even though the company focuses its efforts mainly on the entry-level range, it doesn’t stop the company from designing sophisticated smartphones. Tecno even presented a foldable smartphone at the IFA 2023 in Berlin, proof that the manufacturer does not want to limit itself to supporting roles.
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This means that, according to Canalys, Transsion (and especially Tecno) remains in first place in the smartphone sector in Africa and even recorded an increase in shipments compared to the third quarter of the previous year (+9%). Samsung is the only company in the top 5 to see a decline in this regard.
For Transsion and Tecno it is a smart bet for the future. Africa is the continent with the highest population growth. The number of potential buyers is increasing and it is therefore strategic to position yourself now.
A competitor to be taken seriously everywhere
With our Western eyes, we often see Apple as Samsung’s main competitor in the smartphone market all over the world. This is certainly true in different situations, for example in Europe, but also in Japan (62% of shipments for Apple) and in the United States (55%).
Apple largely dominates the smartphone market in Japan // Source: Canalys via ITHome
Apple takes over half of the smartphone market in the USA // Source: Canalys via ITHome
However, the case of Transsion shows us that we should definitely not stick to this narrow vision and that there are many other formidable opponents depending on the region and its specificities.
You should also know that Transsion also has important views on South America. According to Canalys data, the group is in fourth place with strong delivery dynamics (+159%), but is undoubtedly starting quite low.
Transsion sets out to conquer South America // Source: Canalys via ITHome
A strategy that has proven successful so far, as Transsion has once again moved up to fifth place among smartphone manufacturers worldwide. So an open question remains: will we one day see a Transsion brand in Europe?
Transsion is number 5 in the smartphone market worldwide // Source: Canalys via ITHome
Finally, we would like to point out that the Canalys company is interested in deliveries from manufacturer locations and not in direct sales to end consumers. It is therefore a good indicator of the state of the market (dynamics, balance between supply and demand, etc.), but remains incomplete.