saxby:
Transsion, which has become Africa’s top-selling phone maker in the last year, launched its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star market this week and its market value came close to doubling on its first day before setting down. Shares of the Shenzhen, China-based company closed up 64% raising about $400 million and valuing the business at around $6.5 billion riding on the waves of its dominance in Africa.

It’s a remarkable story for a Chinese company that has never sold one phone in its crowded, competitive home market.

Also notable is the fact that for consumers across Africa, the name Transsion means very little. Instead it is its brands that have become some of the fastest growing across the continent. The holding company has been very successful at positioning its three brands: Tecno, Infinix and itel for different segments of its markets across smartphones and feature phones. In June, all three brands featured high up the Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa list compiled by African Business magazine. Tecno, itel and Infinix ranked 5th, 17th and 26th respectively.

A key strength of all three is that unlike European, American or other Asian brands whose phones were designed primarily for their home markets, Transsion has built most of its phones primarily for African consumers and it has paid off handsomely.

Transsion has had huge success in Africa’s biggest consumer market with its canny blend of mass marketing and brand awareness. Nigerians consumers sing the praises of all three brands.

Philip Towo, a middle-aged quality assurance officer was out early on Tuesday (Oct. 1) to buy a phone at Solat Telecoms, a mobile phones retail outlet in Ibadan, the bustling southwest Nigerian  city three hours from Lagos. He was looking to purchase the Tecno Spark 3 Pro. This isn’t his first Tecno device, and he said it will not be the last. “I love the brand because it provides a good value to price ratio.”  The phone, which retails for the equivalent of $130,  has plenty of features that would make  it competitive with even the latest iPhones , including iPhone 11 which costs up to ten times more.

Even with middle class consumers, price is key especially in a market with few replacement or insurance plans for lost phones. For Dele Ayobami, a doctor at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Infinix became an obvious choice because, given his history of losing phones, he needed something advanced, but which he could probably afford to replace if he lost it again.

Bigger impact

In addition to the competitive pricing of its phones, Transsion has focused on designing its products for the African market including features such as phone cameras better calibrated for darker skin tones in low light and long battery life in countries with poor electricity supply. And in order to keep its costs down and thereby lower the end user price Transsion leaves out high-end features such as artificial intelligence assistants or cloud storage.  It also understands that for many users in Africa, the phones, particularly features phones, have to be priced as low as $10.  

https://qz.com/africa/1720711/transsions-tecno-infinix-are-africas-favorites-boosts-ipo/

Ejadike:
We know these. An average Nigerian buys a Transsion products whenever he thinks of buying a phone.

saxby:
Transsion, which has become Africa’s top-selling phone maker in the last year, launched its initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star market this week and its market value came close to doubling on its first day before setting down. Shares of the Shenzhen, China-based company closed up 64% raising about $400 million and valuing the business at around $6.5 billion riding on the waves of its dominance in Africa.

It’s a remarkable story for a Chinese company that has never sold one phone in its crowded, competitive home market.

Also notable is the fact that for consumers across Africa, the name Transsion means very little. Instead it is its brands that have become some of the fastest growing across the continent. The holding company has been very successful at positioning its three brands: Tecno, Infinix and itel for different segments of its markets across smartphones and feature phones. In June, all three brands featured high up the Top 100 Most Admired Brands in Africa list compiled by African Business magazine. Tecno, itel and Infinix ranked 5th, 17th and 26th respectively.

A key strength of all three is that unlike European, American or other Asian brands whose phones were designed primarily for their home markets, Transsion has built most of its phones primarily for African consumers and it has paid off handsomely.

Transsion has had huge success in Africa’s biggest consumer market with its canny blend of mass marketing and brand awareness. Nigerians consumers sing the praises of all three brands.

Philip Towo, a middle-aged quality assurance officer was out early on Tuesday (Oct. 1) to buy a phone at Solat Telecoms, a mobile phones retail outlet in Ibadan, the bustling southwest Nigerian  city three hours from Lagos. He was looking to purchase the Tecno Spark 3 Pro. This isn’t his first Tecno device, and he said it will not be the last. “I love the brand because it provides a good value to price ratio.”  The phone, which retails for the equivalent of $130,  has plenty of features that would make  it competitive with even the latest iPhones , including iPhone 11 which costs up to ten times more.

Even with middle class consumers, price is key especially in a market with few replacement or insurance plans for lost phones. For Dele Ayobami, a doctor at the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Infinix became an obvious choice because, given his history of losing phones, he needed something advanced, but which he could probably afford to replace if he lost it again.

Bigger impact

In addition to the competitive pricing of its phones, Transsion has focused on designing its products for the African market including features such as phone cameras better calibrated for darker skin tones in low light and long battery life in countries with poor electricity supply. And in order to keep its costs down and thereby lower the end user price Transsion leaves out high-end features such as artificial intelligence assistants or cloud storage.  It also understands that for many users in Africa, the phones, particularly features phones, have to be priced as low as $10.  

https://qz.com/africa/1720711/transsions-tecno-infinix-are-africas-favorites-boosts-ipo/

sunshineV:
I don't know where these people copy and paste these shiii

Sunkanmiwise:
They Studied and understand the people, their market and their buying abilities, so they did all their products specifically for them(Africans) that's a marketing strategy that has put them above the others.

Playermayweda:
So you are telling me that one of the reasons tecno is so popular because it can lighten a black man's skintone