Eva Nyambura
Feature phones also known as ‘dumb-phones’ dominated the mobile phone market share in 2017.
They have basic functionalities such as voice calling and text messaging but have basic internet and multimedia capabilities.
According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the market share rose from 55.4 per cent in 2016 to 61% in 2017 while smartphones’ market share fell from 44.6% to 39%.
The significant rise can be attributed to the expansion of mobile phone markets in large countries where mobile phone penetration is still low.
Unlike in Ethiopia and DR Congo where feature phones are making a comeback, in Nigeria and South Africa, users are continuously upgrading to smartphones.
Itel and Tecno brands of Trassion dominated the feature phones market with Itel’s market share rising from 30% in 2016 to 36% in 2017.
The Tecno brand grew its market share from 17% to 21% in the last year.
Read: National Bank Partners With Kenya Diaspora Alliance (KDA) To Tap Into The Diaspora Market.
While Samsung remains the top most smartphone brand, Transsion continues to gain ground, having sold more than 80 million phones a year most of which were feature phones in the past 11 years.
The Chinese company plans on venturing into the northern part of Africa, with Egypt specially in mind.
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