This archive report was first published on 30 August 2021.
On August 30, 2021, International Data Corporation (IDC) released its latest insights on the African mobile phone market, revealing a 13.2% year-on-year growth in smartphone shipments in Q2 2021.
The total number of smartphone shipments into Africa reached 22.8 million devices, with feature phones continuing to dominate the market, accounting for 54.0% of the total market share.
According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Global Mobile Phone Tracker, feature phone shipments increased by 11.8% over the same period, totaling 26.7 million units.
Transsion brands (Tecno, Itel, and Infinix) maintained their dominance in Africa's smartphone space, with a 47.4% unit share in Q2 2021. Samsung and Xiaomi followed in second and third place, with respective unit shares of 19.3% and 9.1%.
The Transsion brands also dominated the feature phone landscape, with a combined share of 76.3%. Nokia placed third with 9.8% share of feature phone shipments in Q2 2021.
Devices priced below $200 accounted for 84.7% of smartphone shipments to Africa in Q2 2021, with the share of smartphones priced below $100 increasing from 42.0% in Q1 2021 to 45.0% in Q2 2021.
Looking ahead, IDC expects Africa's overall mobile phone market to grow 3.2% quarter on quarter in Q3 2021, with overall shipments to increase slightly through 2021, leading to year-on-year growth of 4.5% for the year as a whole.
