Chinese firm Transsion Holdings is the Kenyan market leader in the number of mobile phones sold.
Three
of its brands including Tecno, itel and Infinix are among the top five
devices by sales in the country, a survey by Consumer Insight shows.
In
the survey dubbed Wakenya, the three brands accounted for 54 per cent
of phones owned by Kenyans. In 2016 two of the Chinese brands — Tecno
and itel — held a 34 per cent share of the market.
Of
the respondents in the latest survey, 28 per cent owned a Tecno phone,
16 per cent a Samsung, 12 per cent a Nokia and 10 per cent an Infinix.
In a separate marketplace report, Jumia indicated that Kenya
leads globally in the share of Internet traffic through mobile phones
overtaking Nigeria, which was at the top in 2017.
The
Jumia report further indicated that the high mobile penetration has been
driven by the entry of aggressive firms such as Hong Kong-based
Transsion Holdings.
Transsion, which has a presence in
India, is also the largest smartphone company by sales in Africa. Its
brands include Tecno and Infinix which dominate the smartphone segment,
while Tecno and itel lead the feature phone segment.
According
to Jumia Kenya, Transsion continued to hold the top spot during the
fourth quarter of 2017 in a report released by International Data
Corporation (IDC) as the biggest smartphone and feature phone vendor in
Kenya with a 58 per cent and 63 per cent market share respectively.
Finnish Nokia, now produced by HMD, has maintained a presence in the
market despite the change of ownership.
South Korean
brands including Samsung, Huawei and LG as well as Nokia are struggling
from the onslaught of the Chinese brands offering more affordable
devices with high-end specifications.
The consumer
research firm surveyed over 3,600 respondents, in rural and urban areas
of 16 counties, aged 13 years and above. They were engaged through
face-to-face interviews.
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