The African smartphone market saw smartphone shipments grow by 6% year-on-year to 17.8 million units in Q2 2024, continuing recovery over the past three quarters against macroeconomic volatility.
In a statement from Canalys, the analyst house stated the North African market led growth on the continent with Algeria seeing shipments double (52%). Egypt saw import challenges but still recorded growth of 27% driven by local currency stability and the government’s push for local manufacturing, attracting vendors such as Xiaomi, vivo, Samsung.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa saw a subdued growth rate of 13%, as it is “influenced by the post-election environment that has reshaped its political landscape”. Meanwhile, Nigeria continued to be the leading market in terms of volume in the region but only saw a modest 5% growth. This was due to persistent inflationary pressures, currency risks, sluggish GDP growth and shrinking disposable income. Kenya was highlighted for a plunging loss of 22% due to political tensions.
Transsion which owns the Tecno, Infinix and iTel brands commanded 51% market share with 9.2 million units, a slight increase from 9.1 million last year. Coming second was Samsung with 3.3 million units, a loss of 25% from 2.2 million, market share stood at 19%.
Xiaomi claimed a podium by growing volume from 1.4 million to 2.1 million for a 12% stake. Fellow Chinese vendor realme shipped 900,000 in the second quarter, up from 400,000, for 5% market share. At fifth place was Oppo which saw shipments grow from 600,000 to 800,000 units for a 4% share.
Canalys Senior Analyst Manish Pravinkumar said: “With the rising cost of living, consumers are gravitating toward budget-friendly options. Q2 2024 saw one of the lowest ASPs in the last eleven quarters.
“Despite the rapid growth of the smartphone market in Africa, feature phones still hold a substantial 52% share and there are still many opportunities for expansion for smartphones,” added Pravinkumar.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, device financing is emerging as a critical driver, making smartphones more accessible to the average consumer”.
To drive down costs further and enable more affordability, Pravinkumar said local manufacturing will be key. Egypt has taken the lead in this route and other regions are expected to follow.