Over the years, the overall Tecno Mobile smartphones suite never exceeds $300 in all African counties where the brand is active, by this, many customers tend to opt for a cheap, yet high specifications release offered by the brand. More so, the unpredicted effects of the COVID19 Pandemic period in 2020 ignited a low-expenditure behaviour amongst customers makign midrange and entry-level smartphones the best choices to consider.

The brand managed to beat Samsung which has over the years been Africa’s top smartphone brand due to a 6.7% Year on Year (YoY) drop in smartphone shipments in 2020. Damage to smartphone shipments is attributed to the COVID19 pandemic which attracted lockdowns in countries like Uganda, Kenya, SouthAfrica, Nigeria, Rwanda, and many others.

The biggest drop in Smartphone shipments was in the first half of 2020 when COVID19 became a talk of the day. Then, manufacturers entered recovery mode in Q2, then restarted shipments in Q3 and Q4 when the African business atmosphere reflected with blue skies attracting a 1.5% YoY gain as opposed to the Q2 27% YoY drop in shipments.

According to Counterpoint Research’s senior Analysts Yang Wang, the change in market dynamics is greatly attributed to uncertainty caused by the COVID19 Pandemic which attracted a saving behaviour in customers as opposed to expenditure due to lockdown effects and preparations for the future.

“Looking at the entire year, the African smartphone market outperformed other regions but was not immune to disruptions caused by the pandemic. Q2 2020 was especially difficult as demand was hammered when most countries entered lockdowns. Smartphone shipments during the quarter saw a YoY drop of 27%.”

Said Yang Wang

On the other hand, mid-range smartphones sell like hot cake in Africa, and over the years, many customers have deviated away from purchasing top tier smartphones by opting for cheap quality. This has made the Transsion holdings trio of Tecno Mobile, Infinix, and Itel Mobile succeed in shipping smartphones at price tags users want to see, and not top tier quality that would hike prices.

As per the Counterpoint Research Market monitor, smartphones priced between $0-$199 were much popular and registered high shipments as opposed to top tier brands that often cost $300 and above. On average, midrange smartphones where Tecno Mobile ranks as a clear leader contributed to over 80% in smartphone shipments of 2020.

This means a change in user behaviour across the African continent, and top tier brands like Samsung have noted the change by introducing budget-friendly yet quality-centric smartphones to the midrange sphere. By standard, Samsung A Series releases rank as the best mid-range smartphones on the market as compared to Tecno Mobile releases.

By this standard, if Huawei Mobile re-opts to ship more midrange smartphones to the continent, then, the competition landscape will change giving manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Realme, Nokia, to re-imagine their prices and quality to best serve the midrange market. For now, Samsung is no longer Africa’s top smartphone brand – a position it has held for years. Instead, Tecno Mobile is now the leading smartphone brand with its sister brands of iTel and Infinix ranking 3rd and 6th respectively.

This was one of the messages that emerged from a webinar hosted by the University of Johannesburg earlier this week. Titled, “Gearing Africa for the 4th Industrial Revolution: Patterns, Prospects, and Lessons,” the event was attended by stakeholders from business, academia, civil society, and the media.

Invited Stakeholders shared insights on the continent’s future and the role of technology in achieving its fast developmental goals.

The onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presents enormous opportunities for African development. However, it comes against the backdrop of a trade war between China and the United States that has majorly seen Tech Companies such as Huawei, ZTE a centerpiece for negotiations.

Noting the advantages that the 4IR offers for Africa’s development – such as precision agriculture and bridging the digital divide, the speaker and event chair Dr. David Monyae note that the continent’s infrastructure limits its ability to embrace 4IR

“To surmount this dearth,” he said, “the continent needs to learn from the lessons of more advanced countries, and identify partnerships that might be to its advantage.”

Dr. David Monyae, Executive Director of the Centre for Africa-China Studies,

Dr Monyae added that this would be a trying task for Africa as he said: “The current international system is fraught with disagreement on technologies, with countries such as the United States ranged against more ambitious countries in the field of technology, such as China.”

In his address, UJ Vice-Chancellor Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala and deputy chairperson of South Africa’s Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution noted the potential of technology to turbocharge development.

He listed eight areas the Commission was focused on, where 4IR could reduce inequality in South Africa, but he emphasized the urgency of taking action. 

“Covid-19 has shown us how vital technology is for the future,” he said. “But gaps still exist in infrastructure – as they did during the first three industrial revolutions. The time to invest in technology is now, we cannot wait to adapt.”

Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala – UJ Vice-Chancellor

Edward Zhou, Huawei’s Vice President of Global Public Affairs, noted that despite some progress, there remained a significant digital divide preventing Africa’s people from seizing the advantages of the 4IR.

He said 28 million students in Sub-Saharan African were without internet connectivity, and more than 110 million people had no access to financial services.

“Bringing these people into the digital economy is dependent on connectivity and here, cloud-based architecture is important, as well as more fibre connectivity to villages and other sites,” said Zhou.

He further said that, Huawei had been an established technology partner across Africa since 1997, and looked forward to continuing these relationships in pursuing 4IR in Africa. 

“We have also partnered with more than 400 universities across Africa in giving training to more than 15 000 students,” he said.

In his address, Thang Nguyen-Quoc, an economist at the OECD Development Centre, pointed out that the resources available for development in Africa had not kept up with population growth, and that due to the Covid-19 pandemic, over 8 African countries were already in debt distress. 

He further added that foreign direct investment in Africa was set to fall by 25% to 40% due to the pandemic. However, said that digital investment offered far more effective returns than other sectors. 

In conclusion, Dr Monyae asserted that, for Africa’s digital advancement to come to fruition, it needed a global environment conducive to the continent’s development. 

“For Africa to develop, it must have sovereignty,” he said. “However, there is no need to retreat from globalization. Protectionism at global level won’t succeed, and it will not be good for the continent.”

Tech Startups as key drivers to Africa’s development success, the continent must not be pro-Beijing or Pro-Washington, but pro-development at all costs to support budding solutions to build strategic yet strong partnerships.