| Transsion Holdings, a private Chinese smartphone manufacturer based in Shenzhen has had great success against bigger and more established global brands like Samsung and Apple |
| By Derrick Silimina VOL.12 August ·2020-07-24 |
When most people think of China in Africa, mining and construction come to mind. But things are changing. While the developed world still too often views the continent as a charity case, many Chinese companies see mutual business opportunities.
China's increased involvement in the African telecommunications industry is part of its multidimensional engagement with the continent to enhance trade and cooperation.
In Zambia, it's hard not to see China's footprint wherever one goes, as its investments in various economic sectors in the Southern African country over the years have been extensive and unprecedented.
Chinese engineers have cooperated with their Zambian counterparts in designing and building the country's iconic buildings such as the Government Complex, a gleaming 24-story skyscraper that houses government offices. Additional infrastructure includes the illustrious Tanzania-Zambia Railway, roads, hospitals, and schools.
Furthermore, the presence of Chinese manufacturers in Zambia's telecommunications industry has added much competition in the market share.
One of these, Transsion Holdings, a private Chinese smartphone manufacturer based in Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province in south China, which owns brands such as Tecno, Itel, and Infinix, has had great success against bigger and more established global brands like Samsung and Apple. These brands are specially designed and manufactured for the African market and are not available in China.
Transsion is one of the top-selling mobile phone manufacturers in Africa, according to the 2019 Vendor Data Overview by the International Data Corp. (IDC), a premier global provider of market intelligence.
Dominant market share
With a population of more than 18 million, there is a growing market for the latest smartphones in Zambia. Transsion's ability to build market share has come about by combining affordable prices and trendy features.
"The Infinix model is selling like hotcakes here. I sell more of these phones per week than any other brands," Leonard Kumwenda, a mobile phone retailer told ChinAfrica.
A glimpse inside Kumwenda's shop in Lusaka, situated along Chachacha Road in the heart of Zambia's capital, shows how well-stocked it is with China-made phone brands as compared to other makes.
"Our IT engineers spent a lot of time in Africa to understand the market properly. This industry is driving the modern lifestyle and [because] we understand the needs and demands, [we] bring the solutions to our consumers," said Transsion Holdings Vice President Arif Chowdhury.
Mobile handsets such as Infinix-Hot-Play and Tecno-Camon15-Premier offer impressive specifications and designs to help create and share the most demanding social media needs. These brands retail from between $85 and $200 a phone.
"I enjoy this [Tecno-Camon15-Premier] mobile phone model due to its stylish design and ultra-battery capacity of 6,000 mAh. It takes my personality to another level," said Maureen Mumba, a fan of Tecno mobile phone in Lusaka.
IDC data further indicates that Transsion's phone brands enjoy the lion's share of the market in Africa with over 60 percent of shipments in the third quarter of 2019.
Game changer
The rising appetite for smartphones in Zambia, encouraged by cheaper Internet costs and increased mobile-based innovations, has induced more demand for Chinese mobile brands on the local market.
Beyond pricing, most Chinese telecom companies have built their businesses over the years by producing phones with locally tailored features that include double-SIM card slots to ensure callers avoid lapses in-network coverage. Their phones also come equipped with camera technology calibrated for darker skin tones and stronger battery lifespan - a vital feature most cherished by local users in Zambia where electricity supply is intermittent as power black-outs are a daily routine.
Equally, the emerging demand for advanced higher-quality communications among consumers in Zambia poses a paradigm-shifting challenge to Chinese mobile phone manufacturers.
Originally designed to carry circuit-switched voice traffic, existing networks now need to carry heavy data loads, deliver streaming video and provide Internet access to a rapidly growing user base.
With a budget-friendly price tag from as cheap as $50, Chinese mobile phones are a game-changer in the Southern African nation where over 60 percent of people live in poverty.
Whether it is farmers accessing local market prices for their produce to arm themselves against profiteering middlemen, or nurses, doctors, and patients accessing medical monitoring and data services, Chinese mobile phones and wireless devices are transforming lives.
Creating local jobs
The success of China-made mobile handsets has shown how manufacturers with the right product and strategic pricing can influence socio-economic growth in any society they operate in.
This has in turn created more jobs among the local entrepreneurs, who are both retailers and suppliers of mobile devices and accessories.
In most Zambian towns, busy streets are awash with the bright shopfronts of Transsion's flagship phone brands, a sign that shows that the company is transforming the lives of local entrepreneurs.
"Our intention was to serve the communities with something that can bring value to them. It's not only about making money, which can be a short-term venture; but if you bring value to society, the business can be sustained for the long term," said Chowdhury.
Just like other upcoming mobile phone dealers in the country, Japhet Tembo, 34, is the proprietor of Mobile Trends - an outlet situated in Lusaka's crammed town center market.
He started selling Chinese mobile phones in 2014 in a small operation with just a few handsets and a couple of accessories at a makeshift store. "I used to struggle to sell a single handset per day. But thanks to more supply of Chinese phones on the market, it has induced more demand as the handsets are affordable and have advanced features just like other big brands like Samsung or iPhones," said Tembo, who today employs four workers in his shop.
Lusaka-based economist Mambo Haamaundu highlighted that global manufacturers like Transsion have realized the potential to make money in Zambia through the sale or production of mobile phones, a move that has awakened or birthed more local entrepreneurs in the country.
Haamaundu said it is time people begin to have a positive mindset by learning from successful Chinese companies such as Transsion and acknowledging their contribution to society through job creation and significant taxes they pay to national coffers.
"Our local entrepreneurs need to seize every opportunity because you can be a giant today and a small boy will overtake you tomorrow and become a giant. Most successful Chinese companies are successful because they understand the market that they operate in and they are able to satisfy the needs of that market," said Haamaundu.
(Reporting from Zambia)
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