Chinese handset maker Transsion is the darling of Africa’s growing mobile market, but can it keep its lead?
Transsion wasn’t the first Chinese smart phone brand to make a foray into Africa, but you’ll be forgiven for mistaking it as such. In cities like Lagos, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa, busy streets are awash with shopfronts advertising Tecno, Itel, and Infinix, the Shenzhen-based phone maker’s three flagship brands.
It was an eye-opener for Mo Yelin, a Beijing-based journalist, when he visited Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in September 2017.
“Before the trip, I had read about the popularity of Transsion’s phones in Africa, but it was still a shock seeing it with my own eyes,” he told TWOC. “Billboards with Transsion ads were everywhere throughout the city and multiple Transsion stores could be found on a single street.”
Scramble for Africa is a story from our issue, “Disaster Warning.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Jason Tan is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
