Samsung Electronics has topped Africa’s smartphone market for the first time since entering the region in 1995, helped by payment plans that let customers pay for their phones by the day or week.
Samsung ranked first by smartphone revenue in the first quarter and took the lead in unit sales in the second, according to market researcher TechInsights on Monday. Its second-quarter sales volume rose 34.8 percent from a year earlier, even as the broader African market shrank 16.6 percent.
Flexible payments have helped Samsung reach buyers who would struggle to pay upfront. In a market dominated by phones costing about $100, its main Galaxy A models sell for roughly $200. Many consumers earn daily or weekly wages.
Through partnerships with carriers and financing providers including Watu and M-KOPA, buyers can make a small down payment and pay off the balance in daily or weekly installments using mobile money. The plans accounted for 46 percent of Samsung’s African smartphone revenue this year.
Samsung has paired that approach with a focus on security and longer product life. Key Galaxy A models offer up to six years of operating-system and security updates. The company also has 281 service locations across 38 African countries.
Security is a selling point in a region where phones often serve as bank accounts. Mobile-money transactions in sub-Saharan Africa reached $1.4 trillion last year, about two-thirds of the global total, according to the GSMA. One in 5 adults uses mobile money as their only financial account.
TechInsights expects Samsung to end the year with 38.7 percent of Africa’s smartphone unit sales, up from 22.4 percent in 2024. Its revenue share is forecast to reach 34.5 percent.
Samsung is also using the Dakar Youth Olympics to expand its reach. Promotions in Senegal include Galaxy product experiences and a limited-edition phone package sold through carrier Orange.
Globally, Samsung retained its lead over Apple in the third quarter as smartphone shipments fell to their lowest level for the period since 2013.
Separate data from market tracker Omdia showed Samsung’s shipments fell 5 percent, compared with a 20 percent decline across the market. Its affordable Galaxy A phones helped it compete against Android rivals facing memory supply constraints and rising costs, while trade-in offers and upgrade programs supported sales of its new flagship foldables.
herim@heraldcorp.com
