Chinese smartphone brand TCL Communications is targeting 10% to 15% market share in South Africa’s tightly-contested mobile device market.
This was revealed by Ernst Wittman, TCL Communications regional manager for Southern and East Africa, in an e-mail interview with ITWeb.
“TCL has been active in the South African market for over 14 years, selling and marketing devices under the Alcatel brand, as well as selling white-label products under the brands of our network operator partners,” says Wittman.
Alcatel Mobile Phones was established on 24 April 2004 as a joint venture between Alcatel-Lucent (45%) and TCL (55%). Alcatel originally started making mobile phones in late 1996.
In 2005, the joint venture was dissolved and TCL acquired Alcatel-Lucent’s 45% share, and Alcatel Mobile Phones became a wholly-owned subsidiary group of TCL. The brand name was then licensed to TCL.
Wittman believes the company can wrestle market share from entrenched players, such as Samsung, Huawei and Apple.
TCL also has to face off with other Chinese smartphone brands that are flooding the local market. These include Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, among others.
According to Statista, in March 2022, Samsung was the market leader with 48.12% of the market share of mobile device vendors in South Africa. Huawei ranked second, with almost 24%, followed by Apple with 16%.
While the local smartphone market is tightly-contested, Wittman believes TCL can still crack the local market.
“We believe there is room for all players in the market. We pride ourselves on our long-standing relationships with the large network operators, as well as ownership of manufacturing facilities that enable us to confidently deliver great devices at attractive price points,” he says.
“We supply a range of mobile devices and would like our overall share in the South African market to reach between 10-15%.”
TCL South Africa recently launched what it dubs “one of the most affordable 5G smartphones in South Africa” – the TCL 20 R 5G – which retails at R3 899.
“If you’re buying a smartphone today, you probably want it to last for four to five years,” says Wittman.
“During that time, 5G will become pervasive and you’ll be able to benefit from its high speeds in many parts of the country. The TCL 20 R 5G makes 5G affordable, so you can be ready for the future of connectivity and start enjoying higher speeds in most major cities in South Africa today.”
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