Africa's Smartphone Market Rebounds in 2024: Transsion Remains Top Dog, Xiaomi and Realme Show Strong Growth

Africa's Smartphone Market Rebounds in 2024: Transsion Remains Top Dog, Xiaomi and Realme Show Strong GrowthData from Canalys (now part of Omdia) reveals a strong rebound in Africa's smartphone market in 2024, with shipments reaching 74.7 million units, a 9% year-on-year increase

Africa's Smartphone Market Rebounds in 2024: Transsion Remains Top Dog, Xiaomi and Realme Show Strong Growth

Data from Canalys (now part of Omdia) reveals a strong rebound in Africa's smartphone market in 2024, with shipments reaching 74.7 million units, a 9% year-on-year increase. This growth is attributed to easing inflation boosting consumer purchasing power, vendors actively expanding into emerging markets, and a replacement cycle following a peak in 2021 shipments. Notably, the 2021 peak of 90.5 million units remains unsurpassed. Canalys predicts a more moderate 2% growth for 2025.

The 2024 market saw intense competition with varying vendor performance. Transsion Holdings maintained its dominance, shipping 37.9 million units (51% market share), a 10% year-on-year increase. This success stems from understanding local consumer needs, offering affordable yet feature-rich devices, and aggressively expanding offline sales channels.

In contrast, Samsung experienced a relatively sluggish year, shipping 13.9 million units (19% market share), a 22% year-on-year decline. This highlights the need for Samsung to reassess its African strategy to better align with local market conditions and consumer preferences.

Despite overall market softness, Xiaomi demonstrated robust growth, shipping 8.4 million units (11% market share), a 38% year-on-year increase. This reflects the effectiveness of its value-for-money strategy and active marketing campaigns. This success also underlines the continued demand for affordable smartphones in Africa.

Realme also performed exceptionally well, shipping 3.8 million units (5% market share), representing a remarkable 89% year-on-year growth, significantly outpacing other brands. This demonstrates the positive response to its youthful brand positioning and online marketing strategy. Realme's rapid growth indicates further intensification of market competition.

OPPO shipped 3.1 million units (4% market share), showing a 10% year-on-year increase. While relatively stable, this growth lags behind competitors, indicating a need for further expansion efforts.

Q4 2024 mirrored the annual trends. Transsion maintained its lead with 10 million units shipped (49% market share), a 1% year-on-year increase. Samsung shipped 3.5 million units (17% market share), down 17% year-on-year. Xiaomi shipped 2.2 million units (11% market share), up 22% year-on-year. Realme shipped 1.1 million units (6% market share), exhibiting a stunning 70% year-on-year growth. OPPO shipped 800,000 units (4% market share), down 12% year-on-year.

In conclusion, the African smartphone market rebounded in 2024, but competition remains fierce. Transsion continues to dominate, while brands like Xiaomi and Realme demonstrate strong growth, suggesting a vibrant and challenging future. Market players must deeply understand local consumer needs and adapt strategies swiftly to succeed. Easing inflation, vendor expansion into new markets, and the replacement cycle drove the recovery. However, future growth faces uncertainties, demanding proactive responses from vendors for sustained development. The predicted 2% growth for 2025 necessitates cautious planning and continuous improvement of product competitiveness to navigate the intensifying market competition.