The unknown smartphone kings of Africa
7.3.2024
Translation: machine translated
The fifth largest smartphone manufacturer in the world is virtually unknown in Europe. Transsion dominates the market in Africa with its three brands Tecno, Infinix and Itel and is slowly catching up with the big players.
In the beginning, I ignored news about Tecno & Co. Boring, cheap smartphones that aren't available here anyway. In the meantime, Transsion, the group behind the three brands, has expanded its development department. The unknown smartphone kings from trumped at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) with one or two innovations.
Number 1 in Africa, number 5 worldwide
Trump and its three brands sold 94.9 million smartphones in 2023. This was calculated by the market research company IDC in its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. This corresponds to a market share of 8.1 per cent and is enough for fifth place, just behind Oppo. Only Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple are ahead of it.
Source: IDC
According to market research by Canalys, Transsion has also had a market share of around 50 per cent in Africa for years. Samsung follows with 30 per cent and Xiaomi is at 10 per cent. Tecno is the most important brand of the Transsion Group. It was also the smartphone sponsor of the Africa Cup last winter
A smartphone back cover as a teaser
While Itel stayed away from the MWC, Infinix used an event on the day before the trade fair to show a prototype screen. This is intended for the back of a smartphone and can change colour or display patterns. For our colleague Lorenz Keller, it is the most beautiful back of a smartphone he has seen in a long time.
Infinix relies on e-ink technology, as used in e-book readers. In other words, the pixels only need power when they change colour. Incidentally, the panel for the back is not that much thicker than the other materials used.
A current range that has nothing to hide
Tecno is also present at the MWC. The latest products will be on display at the stand and the manufacturer will provide insights into the work of its development department.
From a European perspective, Tecno's smartphones tend to be in the entry-level to mid-range segment. The top model is the Camon 30 Premier. Depending on the price, it could be a good deal. The phone comes with the Dimensity 8200 Ultimate, a 6.77-inch AMOLED display with 120 hertz and three cameras with 50 megapixels each. Android 14 is already on board, but I have not received any information about support periods.
Source: Tecno
With its LED lights on the back, the Pova 6 Pro, newly unveiled at MWC, appears to be inspired by the Glyph on the smartphones from Nothing. In terms of features, it ranks behind the Camon 30 Premier with the Dimensity 6000 and only a usable main camera.
The Phantom V Fold and Phantom V Flip folding and flip smartphones are somewhat older and therefore still equipped with Android 13 ex works. A quick test at the trade fair stand and the data sheets make them appear to be a potentially cheaper and usable alternative to the Galaxy Z Fold and Flip from Samsung.
It gets even cheaper with Tecno if you look at the Spark models. The Spark 20 series was released at the beginning of 2024. Although you can only expect a Helio G99 (Ultimate) with a 4G processor, they already have AMOLED displays with 120 hertz and a 108-megapixel camera. However, Android 14 is only available on the Spark 20 Pro+.
Roll, fold and change colour
Even more exciting than the latest smartphones is the corner of the Tecno stand with the latest work samples from the development department. None of it is finalised and ready to go. But it shows that not only the established manufacturers are working on innovations.
For example, the Phantom Ultimate rolls up its display at the touch of a button. This takes around 1.3 seconds and the manufacturer has so much confidence in the technology that visitors can hold the devices in their hands. They already feel very finished.
While the notch in the centre of folding smartphones with an internal display has become very discreet, it can still be seen on the standard models of all manufacturers. Tecno has optimised the hinge on its demo device so that no crease is visible to the naked eye. I can feel it minimally with my finger when I consciously look for it.
Source: Jan Johannsen
The "Chameleon Colouring Technology" is reminiscent of the back of the sister brand Infinix, but does not use e-ink. Instead, small prisms - less than one micrometre in size - are rotated by electrical charges so that they reflect different colours and patterns. A constant power supply is therefore not necessary.
Source: Jan Johannsen
Tecno is also experimenting with different materials for the backs of smartphones. For example, there are particularly robust artificial leather variants and glass backs with 3D effects or textures that require a special manufacturing process.
Source: Jan Johannsen
During the MWC, Tecno also held a keynote event to present its own AI endeavours. In terms of function, however, there was nothing really new compared to Google, Samsung and co. Among other things, Tecno wants to let you generatively adapt portrait photos or convert line sketches into real images.
Source: Tecno
Tecno is not just limited to smartphones, by the way. At the trade fair stand in Barcelona, matching smartwatches and in-ear headphones were on display, as well as notebooks, mini PCs, AR glasses and a robot dog.
Source: Jan Johannsen
An eye on the emerging markets
If you want to buy a smartphone from Tecno right now, I have to disappoint you. When asked, Tecno announced on behalf of the entire group that the focus remains on the so-called emerging markets. The company is forecasting sales growth of between 21 and 207 per cent for Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, India and Eastern Europe in 2023. There seems to be little need to invest a lot of marketing money in the expensive markets in Europe and North America.
Despite the self-imposed restriction to developing markets, smartphones from Tecno and Infinix have made it into our range. However, the new models are not yet included - and the delivery times are rather
longer. If one of the exciting new models arrives in the near future, I will hardly be able to resist and get myself a test device.
Header image: Jan Johannsen
As a primary school pupil, I used to sit in a friend's living room with many of my classmates to play the Super NES. Now I get my hands on the latest technology and test it for you. In recent years at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, now at Digitec and Galaxus.
