According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), shows that smartphone sales in Africa are slowing down. About 215,3 million mobile phones were shipped to Africa in 2016 with smartphones representing 95,37 million of these units.
The IDC in its report says that although smartphones have registered an increase of 3,4%, it is much smaller than the double digit numbers we have seen in the last 2 years. Normal phones performed better, with 16.1% increasing in 2016 with about 119.9 million units sold.
A Samsung continues to lead the smartphone market in Africa with 27% market share, although it has fallen around 2,5% since 2015. THE Tecno is the second (12,5%), followed by Huawei (8%) and Itel (6%).
3G services continue to account for more than half of all new smartphone shipments in Africa, although 4G devices have an 50% growth in 2016. IDC predicts that by 2018 4G services will account for more than half of new shipments of smartphones in Africa.
In Africa there are more than 500 million people who use mobile services. It is estimated that the number will grow to 725 million people in 2020. South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Cameroon and DR Congo are the countries that most innovate in terms of mobile technologies on the continent.
