Alarm bells ring for ‘smartphone king of Africa’ as other Chinese brands chase crown

Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings is struggling to hold its own at the retail level as costs rise and supply chains are disrupted

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Chinese smartphone maker Transsion Holdings is known for its affordable brands and controlled half of Africa’s mobile phone market share in 2021.
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Published: 2:00pm, 8 Dec 2024Updated: 3:23pm, 8 Dec 2024

It is known as the “smartphone king of Africa” and for years has dominated the continent’s mobile phone market. But now, Shenzhen-based Transsion Holdings is facing some stiff competition from rival Chinese brands.

Transsion is the company behind phone brands including Tecno, iTel and Infinix, which won over African customers with features such as multi-SIM functionality and affordable price points. By 2021, Transsion’s brands controlled half the continent’s phone market share.

But now brands including Xiaomi and Realme are eating into that share.

In the third quarter of 2024, Transsion’s net income attributable to shareholders dropped by 41 per cent year on year to 1.05 billion yuan (US$144 million). In the same period, year-on-year revenue fell 7.2 per cent to 16.7 billion yuan. Transsion put the decline largely down to the combined impact of “market competition and supply chain costs”.

The firm, which made its fortune selling its phones exclusively in Africa before expanding to other markets, has also been hit by rising component costs, especially memory chips.

Amid challenges from particularly from Xiaomi and Realme in the mid-to-low price segment, Transsion saw handset sales fall by 17 per cent year on year in the third quarter, according to data from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research.