It is still wild to consider that the big three, Itel, Tecno and Infinix, overtook Huawei a while ago. I know you remember the kind of hot streak Huwaei was on before it was hit by sanctions (export controls). It had gone up to second in the world but now sits outside the top 5 while Transsion is now a permanent resident.
Huawei stans like Edwin will be happy to know “Huawei made a major comeback in its home market, driven by the new Mate series.” However, that success seems to be drawing the ire of the Americans who are now considering slapping even tougher sanctions on Huawei. They are not having any kind of Huawei success.
Transsion is on its own streak. According to the latest Canalys analysis, here is what Worldwide smartphone shipments and growth look like:
Samsung retains top spot (20%), Apple is second with 17%, Xiaomi is third with 14% whilst Oppo in 4th and Transsion in 5th have 9%.
However, only Transsion grew from the same quarter last year, growing from 6% to 9%. Xiaomi maintained 14% market share whilst Samsung’s fell by 2%, Apple and Oppo’s by 1%. At this rate, Transsion will overtake Oppo in Q4 2023.
It’s been a long time coming:
The good news for Transsion does not stop there. Samsung continues its exit from the entry-level segment to focus on profitability. That’s a big piece of the pie for the taking. Transsion and Xiaomi have been helping themselves to it.
An analyst at Canalys says, “These short-term wins might turn into more sustainable long-term success if Xiaomi and Transsion play their cards well.”
I cannot remember a time when Transsion did not play its cards well. So, their competitive devices and impressive channel engagements almost guarantee we will be seeing more Itel, Tecno and Infinix phones in the future.
Channel engagements being how Transsion interacts and collaborates with various distribution channels to market and sell their products. Just take a walk in downtown Harare and you’ll get a picture of how extensive Transsion’s channel engagement is.
Our efforts to increase smartphone and internet penetration in Zimbabwe would be impossible without Transsion brands and so we will cheering their success. Of course, many tend to move to the ‘more desirable’ brands when their incomes allow but the Transsion brands remain a good starting point.
I mean, Tecno now has an impressive little folding phone. Looks like they are slowly becoming a desirable brand themselves. Could they lock in some of the people who start with entry-level Itels? Absolutely.
I started my smartphone life with a budget Samsung phone and remained with the brand for years after that. Some of the people getting experiences with Transsion won’t be going to Apple even when they can afford it.
In all this, remember that smartphone shipments have been depressed, This makes Transsion’s growth all that more impressive. The global smartphone market underwent a slight drop of 1% in Q3 2023. This was celebrated because it was a smaller drop than we have seen in previous quarters.
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