Grace Ashiru
The International Data Corporation (IDC) says that Africa’s smartphone market will be 18% smaller in 2022 than in 2021. Egypt and Tunisia had the biggest year-over-year drops, at 63% and 33%, respectively.
This significant drop was caused by people spending less money because of inflation and economic uncertainty. It wasn’t just Africa, though. Smartphone shipments dropped in all of the world’s major markets last year, and the global smartphone market went down by 11.3%.
Tecno and Itel, from China, and Samsung, South Korea, made up 65% of the total shipments. 82% of an entire load of smartphones costs less than $200. This shows why cheap Chinese goods took up most of the freight.
Egypt doesn’t have enough smartphones because of new taxes and import restrictions. Payment for imports must be made through letters of credit, while higher customs tariffs and taxes caused Tunisia’s smartphone shortage. Kenya and South Africa had a minor change from one year to the next, with a 4% and 5% drop, respectively.
Dr. Ramazan Yavuz, a senior research manager at IDC Middle East and Africa, said that Kenya was able to have a relatively low decline because of its asset financing platforms and because it is a feeder market for the East Africa subregion.
On the other hand, South Africa benefited from Chinese brands putting the country in the spotlight, local brands showing off, and the government giving out aid grants.
