Recently, the latest mobile phone market data of Middle East and Africa (hereinafter referred to as MEA) from Market Research Institute counterpoint research depicts a market that Chinese users are completely unfamiliar with. Here, China's voice holdings and Huawei are competing in the market, and there is still strong demand for non smart phones that have been ignored in China.

Non smart phones are still popular

According to counterpoint, the smartphone market in MEA grew by 2% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2019, while the non smartphone market (also known as feature phones) grew by 1% year-on-year.

"The Middle East and Africa markets are at different stages of development," Tarun pathak, deputy director of counterpoint, said of the smartphone market in the region. Although the region is the third largest for absolute Internet users (> 500 million), penetration is still low (only about 40% of them have access to the Internet). So the next growth trend in the region will be driven by first-time Internet users. The Middle East is a developed region, but users in some African countries (Namibia, Tanzania, etc.) have to pay the most expensive fees in the world to access the Internet. In order to bridge this gap, we need the joint efforts of telecom operators, the government and mobile phone manufacturers. "

Commenting on manufacturers, Varun Mishra, a research analyst at counterpoint, said that in the quarter, itel and Tecno, the brands of China's Shenzhen Chuanyin holding, had the highest share of non smartphones in MEA.

Although no one has paid attention to non smart phones in China, in the African mobile phone market, such products still belong to the mass market, especially in the market segment of < 40 US dollars, entry-level smart phones can not provide a good experience.

High data consumption, mobile phone costs and other challenges (such as "digital illiteracy") make the popularity of smart phones slow.

In the smartphone sector, brands such as Samsung and Tecno are expanding their business in the region through partnerships. Tecno, for example, recently opened its first flagship store in Nigeria. In addition, among other Chinese manufacturers, Huawei is the only strong brand in the region, and the business of vivo, oppo and Xiaomi in African countries is still in its infancy. The U.S. trade ban has not led to a sharp drop in Huawei's shipments in MEA, and their Y-series models are still selling well.

In terms of system, kaios has grown significantly

In terms of smart phones, kaisos, formerly known as Firefox OS, is a new system that has sprung up in African countries. After losing the competition with Android, kaisos has developed in India and started to enter the African market.

Recently, Tecno and Vodacom, an African operator, launched devices using kaios. Compared with the third quarter of 2018, the shipment volume of kaios in Africa increased by more than 600%. Of course, the main reason is that the original base is not large. These devices are attractive to Internet users.

Mea market is very sensitive to price. In these areas, the price of a smart phone should be similar to that of a non smart phone as far as possible, which is the key to the success of a smart phone here.

5g smart phone is still the best low price product

The MEA market is also full of brands (though not as serious as the Chinese market). The top five smartphone brands account for 58% of the market.

In the quarter, feature phones accounted for 37% of total mobile phone sales. The comprehensive market share of function mobile phone has reached the highest in history. If you look at each brand carefully:

Samsung ranks first in smartphone market share, accounting for 29% of the total smartphone market in the third quarter of 2019. The galaxy a series contributed four fifths of Samsung's record sales, and the A10 and A20 cores were the best-selling models.

Tecno surpasses Huawei and ranks second in the market. Their spark 3 and pop 2 power are the best-selling models.

Huawei's Y Series has contributed a lot to sales. Y-series contributed a record 70% of Huawei's smartphone sales, up from 47% in the same period last year. In other words, seven of Huawei's 10 mobile phones sold in MEA are Y-series.

Itel's market segment below US $50 had good shipments, while infinix, one of the fastest-growing brands (34%), accounted for 4% of the market and remained strong in Nigeria.

Products under $100 account for 55% of smartphone shipments. The high-end market (US $400 and above) accounts for only 6% of the trading volume in the MEA region, mainly from developed countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The richer smartphone market in the Middle East remained stable. In the third quarter, some Middle Eastern countries launched 5g networks for the first time in Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. At the beginning of 2021, 5g may grow rapidly in the developed Middle East market, while for the African market, 5g may be several years away.