OPPO and Xiaomi looks to challenge Tecno, Infinix in Nigeria

There’s a potential war brewing in the smartphone market in Nigeria. OPPO, the fourth largest smartphone maker in the world is set to launch its OPPO F11 pro on April 26. The launch comes just two days after rivals Xiaomi would have launched Redmi Note 7 in the country.

Hello Nigeria, greetings from Xiaomi Official！^^

— Xiaomi Nigeria (@XiaomiNigeria) April 4, 2019

#DidYouKnow the #OPPOF11Pro has an integrated design to hide the front camera inside the phone? Find out more at the OPPO F11 Pro Launch! It's 3 days to go! #OPPONigeriaLaunch pic.twitter.com/18sUNGwXDn

— OPPO Mobile Nigeria (@oppomobileng) April 23, 2019

Both Chinese smartphone manufacturers hope to displace Transsion Holdings, makers of Tecno, Inifinix and Itel as the leading smartphone brand in Africa.

OPPO and Xiaomi are major competitors in the Asian markets producing phones ranging from budget to premium smartphones.

After Xiaomi introduced its subbrand of budget phones Redmi, OPPO looked to counter it with Realme, a subbrand that has grown to become an independent company.

OPPO and Xiaomi filled the 4th and 5th slots with 8% and 7% share of the global smartphone market in 2018, according to Counterpoint Research.

The competition in the Asian market, especially in China and India, could continue in Nigeria that has over 21 million smartphone users.

The OPPO F11 pro, which has a motorised pop-up selfie camera, will be too pricey for most smartphone users in Nigeria at around N130,000 . According to Jumia’s Mobile report in 2018, the average price of smartphones sold on Jumia is around N36,000 ($100).

Transsion’s low pricing as has seen them sell 124 million mobile phones (both smartphones and feature phones) in 2018 across Africa, effectively having 48.7% of Africa’s mobile market.

Transsion has been selling products in over 70 countries and regions all over the world, and have established partnerships with over 2,000 dealers.

According to an IDC report,  Transsion had 34.3% of the smartphone market in Africa at the end of 2018 ahead of  Samsung (22.6%) and Huawei (9.9%).  Transsion has focused on producing budget and mid-range phones catering to the needs of most Africans with limited disposable income. The price-friendly phones are ubiquitous with Transsion’s structured distribution across Africa, especially with offline retailers.

Xiaomi which adopts an online sales strategy for the distribution of its phones signed a deal with e-commerce site, Jumia. The online store is exclusively offering Redmi Go – Xiaomi’s latest low-end smartphone – priced at N27,750.

Transsion’s tenterhooks are deep into the Nigeria smartphone market with its low-cost phones and Africa-focused strategy and distribution, Xiaomi and OPPO have huge work to do before they can unseat the self-professed king of Africa’s mobile phone market.