TRANSSION: A Domestic Mobile Phone Brand that Takes an Unusual Path

By Carrie Tsai,  Last Updated: December 03, 2018

Nowadays, domestic smartphone manufacturers, in addition to the brand's main market, are also actively expanding into overseas markets, such as domestic manufacturers like Huawei and Millet. As the domestic mobile phone market is beginning to become saturated, if manufacturers want to seek more room for development, they must also open up overseas markets.

Different from other domestic manufacturers, one of the domestic manufacturers has taken an unusual path. It is the first to make the overseas market its base camp, and even in Africa, it is a household name. So who is this manufacturer? It is Transsion Holdings.

Now there are three mobile phone brands under the Transsion Holdings, namely TECNO, itel, Infinix and Spice. Among them, TECNO is a premium brand under the sound, and is one of the first dual-card mobile phone brands in the African market.

In addition to the above four mobile phone brands, there are also an accessories brand Oraimo, home appliance brand Syinix, lighting brand iFLUX and an after-sales service brand Carlcare. It can be seen that the sound transmission mobile phone and related products are still very abundant.

The mobile phone brand of the Transsion Holdings is sold to more than 50 countries and regions around the world. In 2017, the company's mobile phone shipments reached 129 million, ranking first in the country, even leading Huawei, OPPO, vivo and millet.

According to IDC 2017 data, the branded mobile phones of the company have a market share of 45% in Africa and a 9% market share in India.

Why is the Transsion Holdings successful in the African region?

The first is to choose the right market. There are now three consumer markets of more than 1 billion in the world, namely China, Africa and India. Both China and India are single countries, so the structure of the consumer market is relatively simple, and it is very difficult to occupy the entire single market.

However, the whole of Africa is composed of many countries. Although the consumer market is more complex, it is also diverse, which is conducive to the layout of its own products and enrich its own product line.

Second, the transmission is very cleverly researching the needs of local consumers and markets in Africa. For example, the power infrastructure in Africa is generally insufficient. It will focus on extending battery life, launching mobile phones with large-capacity batteries, and optimizing the photos of African consumers.

Third, the multi-brand strategy of voice transmission has a wide coverage. In addition to pricing, Voice Holdings has launched a multi-brand strategy. From the beginning, it only operated the TECNO brand, and then released four mobile phone brands, itel, Infinix and Spice. The brand coverage is wide, and local people can choose according to their own preferences. Among them, TECNO and itel have been rated as the most popular brands among African consumers because of their low price and best selling.

Fourth, the customized mobile phone system of the company has become the mainstream operating system. It is understood that the brands of the Transsion are equipped with operating system (OS) based on Android deep customization development, including HiOS, itel OS and XOS, and the number of users of the global OS has exceeded 60 million, with a huge user volume.

According to market research firm Canalys' quarterly report, Tecno, iTel and Infinix, the mobile phone brands of the first quarter of this year, continue to win the African sales championship with a total market share of 38%. But then Samsung is also catching up, sales increased by 42% year-on-year, accounting for 23% of the African market.