Xiaomi improves its share of the African smartphone market while South Africa struggles to buy

It’s a good time to be Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi. Market research firm Canalys has issued its latest report on the African smartphone market and the Chinese company has increased its share of the smartphone market on the continent overall.

That puts Xiaomi in third place. That might not be unexpected from a South African perspective, which tends to rank Samsung and Apple ahead of the Chinese contender but Apple, as a company, isn’t represented on the podium in Africa as a whole.

African tastes

When all of Africa’s countries are considered, Apple doesn’t rank in the top five for sales. First up is Transsion, a company that includes budget brands Tecno and iTel. These are present in South Africa but don’t enjoy the popularity they do elsewhere on the African continent. Samsung holds a declining but still substantial percentage of Africa’s smartphone popularity while Xiaomi is slowly eating away at its competitors, increasing its share to 13% thanks to sales in Nigeria and Egypt.

South Africans, on the other hand, are slipping somewhat in terms of sales. Thanks to economic uncertainty, smartphone sales have declined in the country by 10% since August 2024. This has mostly driven Samsung’s 30% decline in the region, but other brands like Honor have seen growth in SA thanks to various initiatives. Canalys lists the brand’s ‘Yes Program’ and Code with Honor’ as contributing factors to a staggering 287% growth in sales.

South Africa isn’t likely to stay muted for too long. The brief dip came on the back of six consecutive quarters of growth in the double digits and smartphone makers will likely see local purchases take an upswing shortly. Which smartphone makers get that lovely South African cash though… that’s a question that remains to be answered but Samsung should get at least a little back. Right?

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