Over the past three months, a wave of new smartphones from more than half-a-dozen Chinese brands has been launched in South Africa, and promotional campaigns have intensified as they compete for a share of Africa’s most strategic market.
Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Honor, Vivo, Realme and Itel have all released new handsets, ranging from entry-level to high-end flagship devices, while market leader, Korean manufacturer Samsung, released its new range of foldable devices, setting the scene for a battle of the brands.
Each of the Chinese challengers aspires to wrest market share from Samsung and to establish themselves as viable alternatives in the local market.
The South African market is highly strategic for these firms as it is seen as a springboard to the rest of Africa, which is regarded as the biggest potential growth market for consumer technology. It also has the highest proportion of users of basic feature phones of any continent, representing the biggest opportunity for migrating consumers to smartphones.
South Africa is also one of the few markets in Africa in which cellphone sales are largely conducted by mobile network operators. This means that, if manufacturers can convince them to “range” their devices — the industry term for adding them to available inventory — they are almost guaranteed a slice of a lucrative pie.
For Huawei the stakes are even higher. Frozen out of many Western markets due to sanctions imposed by the US government and its allies, the Shenzhen-based company treats South Africa as a priority territory, with a government that is also a friendly trading partner.
As a result, the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Brics summit last month was timely, but every one of the brands approached for comment insisted that the coinciding of new product launches with the trip was unintentional.
“Our launches are usually cyclical,” said Akhram Mohamed, Huawei vice-president of operations for South Africa.
“The timing of our launches is based solely on our business requirements and the market, and not influenced by anything else.”
South Africa is a very important market for Honor globally due to its market capability
— Daniel Wang, president of Honor for the Middle East and Africa
Mohamed confirmed that South Africa continues to be an important market for Huawei.
“Even with new entrants to the market, with increased competition and the many challenges experienced over the last few years, Huawei continues to be one of the most loved and popular smartphone brands in South Africa. This certainly encourages us to intensify our strategy and investment locally.
“Our primary focus is on adding value to our customers through continuous innovation and an expanded ecosystem portfolio. Providing connected experiences and being an enabler to the lifestyle of our customers leads our thinking. Market share growth is therefore a by-product of this strategy and not the driving force.”
One of Huawei’s fiercest Chinese competitors, Oppo, ranked fourth in global smartphone sales, gained a head start when it launched a new flagship phone, the Reno10 Pro, in June.
“It is a competitive market, and our approach to the launch of our Reno10 Series was about being first to market and bringing the device to our customers as soon as possible,” said Liam Fourie, Oppo South Africa head of go-to-market and operations.
Oppo was launched in South Africa in 2020 as part of its global strategy to explore various markets and grow market share.
“We do see an opportunity to grow further into the continent.”
Last week saw the launch of a new flagship device, the Honor 90 Series, from a brand that has quietly been positioning itself to disrupt the market. Honor, a sub-brand that was spun off from Huawei after it was sanctioned by the US, still manufactures devices that are in lockstep with Huawei technology while avoiding that company’s limitation of not being allowed to use the Google mobile services that run on Android phones.
Daniel Wang, president of Honor for the Middle East and Africa, told Business Times: “We have great plans to introduce more smartphones and our range of IoT [internet of things] products in the fourth quarter and beyond that will enhance our product ecosystem in South Africa.”
Honor gadgets that are expected to be launched this month include the Pad X9 tablet, the Watch 4, and the Choice Earbuds X5 and X5 Pro.
“South Africa is a very important market for Honor globally due to its market capability,” said Wang.
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