Over the past twelve months, Africa’s smartphone imports have declined. However, according to U.S.-based IDC, the trend will change by the end of this year.
Africa imported about 18.1 million smartphones in Q2 2022, down by 7.9 percent compared with the 19.7 million smartphones imported the previous quarter. The figure is revealed by U.S. firm International Data Corporation (IDC) in its latest quarterly report "Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker."
South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya remain the main smartphone markets in Africa, with 16.6%, 13.8%, and 7.7% respectively. China's Transsion (Tecno, Itel, and Infinix) has been the leading brand with a 48% market share. Meanwhile, South Korea's Samsung and China's Xiaomi were respectively the second and third with 25.8 and 6.6 percent market share.
In the “Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker” report, Arnold Ponela, senior research analyst at IDC, explained that inflation and economic instability were dampening consumer sentiment and spending. He added that the situation was exacerbated by rising component and transportation costs, as well as recent blockades in China.
Q2-2022 makes it the fourth quarter with consecutive declines in African smartphone exports, with a 29.6 percent year-on-year decline. However, IDC expects smartphone sales to pick up again in Africa and imports to rise by 16.9 percent and 9.5 percent in the third and fourth quarters respectively.
“Channels will strive to secure greater shipment allocations as they look to manage supply shortages and capitalize on what is likely to be a high-demand period for smartphones due to December festivities and Black Friday promotions,” commented Ramazan Yavuz, a senior research manager at IDC.
Isaac K. Kassouwi
MTN Innovation Lab hosts Africa HealthTech Export 2025 Bootcamp in Cotonou Event targets s...
Public Eye claims over 90% of Cerelac samples in Africa contain added sugar, averaging 6 g per por...
China says Premier Li Qiang will attend instead of President Xi Jinping The U.S. and Russia also ...
Carlyle is assessing whether it can buy Lukoil’s foreign assets worth about $22 billion. The...
Niger installs 1,031 km of fiber across five national corridors Project aims to connect with Beni...
New STAGES platform digitizes visa processing for creative productions Qualified companies can submit requests online and receive a reply within 24...
Angola plans faster permitting and digital reforms to draw new mining investors Government targets 2 billion $ in non-diamond mining investment...
CBE raised $200 million in senior debt as a second tranche arranged by Standard Bank New funding strengthens its model of fully financed...
Agrifood revenue in Morocco edged up 0.8% to about $20.5 billion in 2024 Production and value added rose, supported by higher investment despite...
Orange Egypt and Qatar’s Qilaa International Group have partnered to develop WTOUR, a digital platform offering trip planning, hotel bookings, local...
Singita will invest $60m to build a 60-bed lodge on Santa Carolina Island and $42m in projects across the Bazaruto Archipelago. The...