(Ecofin Agency) - In 2020, the Korean brand Samsung was beaten by Tecno as the biggest supplier of smartphones on the African continent. Indeed, according to a recent report by Asian research firm Counterpoint, Techno, a brand owned by Transsion, a Shenzhen-based mobile phone maker, became the largest shipper of smartphones to Africa last year, amid significant progress of several other "small" brands, such as Itel, Xiaomi and Oppo.

In detail, Tecno achieved 18% of total smartphone shipments on the continent last year. The brand, boosted by a good second half, will have been able to count on its affordable phones, very customer friendly in Africa.

Samsung's decline In comparison, Samsung, the world's largest supplier of smartphones, has fallen to second place on the continent, with a 15% market share.

This poor performance is explained, among other things, by the cost of its telephones. Indeed, for 80% of Africans, the average budget for the purchase of a smartphone is less than $200, according to CounterPoint. Without counting on the fact that the Korean giant will also have suffered from "disruptions of [its] supply chain", in the first half of 2020, probably because of the first repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The end of the pack is gaining ground Itel, Tecno's sister brand, closes the top three, with 12% of African imports. The latter benefits from the low cost of its phones and the decline of another giant, Huawei, fourth on the continent, with an 8% market share (down 1% compared to 2019). Then comes Infinix (also owned by Transsion, of which it is the Premium brand), which also gained ground last year, while maintaining its rank of 5th among the major telephony brands. Xiaomi doubled its market share from 2% in 2019 to 4% in 2020. Finally, Oppo also saw year-on-year gains of 57%, standing at 4% market share, ahead of Apple, HMD and Realme.Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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