Transsion, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, which dominates the African market, is planning to go public on Shanghai’s technology innovation board.
Established in 2006, the company has its headquarters in Shenzhen, with four sub-brands; Tecno, Itel, Infinix and Spice. The company also offers after-sales services under the brand Carlcare, manufactures mobile accessories under the brand Oraimo, and home appliances under the brand Syinix. Its products target over 50 countries and regions, with major focus in Africa. In 2017, the company’s total turnover has reached 20 billion, with shipments of 1,290 million, with Africa’s market share accounting for 45.9 percent
The lower price has been the main factor that contributes to Transsion’s success in Africa, compared with other Asian brands including Xiaomi and Samsung. As reported before, “in Africa the brand names Infinix, Tecno and Itel are virtually on every street corner. In fact, out of every ten Ugandans you know, predominantly those of the middle class and below, three of them will have a Transsion phone in their hands.”
Tecno does an excellent job in localization, by increasing the exposure of the cameras, so that it captures the facial features of African people in a clearer way. In some cities in Nigeria and Ethiopia, frequent power cuts cause trouble for users to charge their phones. Tecno upgraded its phones so that it could go as long as 24 days without charging.
It is known from before that this smartphone champion made an attempt to go public back in 2018. It even tried backdoor listing to avoid the long waiting process in IPO. It would have gone public before Xiaomi, if the previous plan didn’t fail.
