Nigeria recorded a 19.9 per cent increase in the number of smartphones shipped into the country in the fourth quarter of 2017, New Telegraph has learnt.
This figure also shows increased spending on smartphones by Nigerians, according to a report by global technology research and consulting firm, IDC.
The study also indicates that huge spending on smartpones were recorded around Black Friday celebration in November and Christmas period. This, however, is in contrast to the 6.4 per cent smartphone market decline recorded in the Africa region for the same period. Indeed, the report shows huge preference for feature phones across African markets as opposed to smartphones.
According to the study, feature phones shipments for the fourth quarter totalled 33.4 million units, up 3.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Year-on-year, the feature phone market was up 9.9 per cent. “Feature phones continue to account for a majority share (62.2 per cent) of the region’s overall mobile phone market as they adequately address the needs of consumers that have limited purchasing power and require a reliable long-lasting mode of communication, particularly in rural areas” the report said.
The global technology research and consulting firm’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker shows smartphone shipments were down to 20.3 million units for the quarter. Year-on-year, this represents an 18.0 per cent decline, meaning the YoY improvement seen in the previous quarter did not extend to the year’s final – and traditionally strongest quarter. Combining smartphones and feature phones together, the overall Africa mobile phone market saw shipments of 53.7 million units in Q4 2017, which represents downturns of 0.7 per cent QoQ and 2.6 per cent YoY.
According to IDC, the continent’s two biggest markets, Nigeria and South Africa, saw extremely strong growth, with shipments up 19.9 per QoQ in Nigeria and 27.0 per cent QoQ in South Africa. North Africa also experienced a slight increase, although there were declines across most other markets, which explains the region’s overall decline.
Commenting on the report, a research manager at IDC, Ramazan Yavuz, said: “While Nigeria continues to recover from recession and consumer spending is on the rise, there are also clear signs of improvement in South Africa. The end to the political crisis means that challenging economic conditions will be addressed as a priority by the new government, which will have a positive effect on consumer confidence and spending on mobile phones.”
In terms of the vendor landscape, Transsion brands continued to lead the smartphone category in Q4 2017 with 30.4 per cent share, followed closely by Samsung on 27.0 per cent.The Transsion Group maintains its top position by designing attractively priced devices that address the specific needs of each local market – a strategy the group proudly refers to as its ‘glocal’ approach,” said Nabila Popal, a senior research manager at IDC.
“Despite the significant presence of Transsion brands in most African markets, it is important to note the increasing prevalence of local brands that are gaining considerable share in their home markets and slowly expanding to surrounding countries.” In the feature phone space, Tecno and itel – both of which are Transsion brands – continued to dominate in Q4 2017 with a combined share of 57.2 per cent.
.newtelegraph
