On March 5, the analyst agency Canalys released the latest data on the smartphone market in Africa. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 19.2 million smartphones were shipped in Africa, up 24% year-on-year. For the full year of 2023, smartphone shipments in the region reached 68.7 million units, up 6% from 2022. In terms of annual shipment rankings, Transsion is still the "king of African mobile phones", with Samsung and Xiaomi ranking second and third respectively.
For the whole year of 2023, Transsion will ship 34.5 million units in Africa, directly taking half of the market share, while maintaining an annual growth rate of 8%. Samsung's shipments are almost half of Transsion's, down 12% year-on-year. Xiaomi, OPPO and Realme all entered the top five, and although the market share of the three brands is not high, they have all achieved high annual growth.
Manish Pr**Inkumar, senior advisor at Canalys Dubai, noted that in the fourth quarter of 2023, shipments of ultra-low-end (under $100) smartphones increased by 43% year-on-year, and this growth was mainly driven by Transsion. Samsung's A14 series and A04 series were the key drivers, contributing 30% of Samsung's shipments in Africa. Xiaomi's success is due to its marketing strategy, including significant investments in social marketing, partnerships with KOLs, and online, making it a preferred brand for young tech enthusiasts.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, OPPO experienced a strong growth of 156%, and Huawei, although it did not enter the top five, achieved a staggering growth of 371%.
Canalys is cautiously optimistic about the African smartphone market in 2024, with single-digit growth expected.