Transsion
 | |
| Formerly | Transsion Technology |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public company |
| SSE: 688036 | |
| Industry | Consumer electronics |
| Founded | 2006 in Hong Kong |
| Founder | George Zhu |
| Headquarters | , China |
Area served |
|
Key people | George Zhu (president) |
| Products | |
| Revenue |  US$8.68 billion (2023) |
| US$734.762 million (2023) | |
| Subsidiaries | |
| Website | www |
Transsion Holdings (Chinese: 传音控股; pinyin: Chuányīn Kònggǔ) is a Chinese manufacturer of mobile phones based in Shenzhen. It was the largest smartphone manufacturer by sales in Africa in 2017, and also sells mobile phones in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America. Its brands include phone brands such as Itel, Tecno, Infinix; after-sales service brand Carlcare; and accessories brand Oraimo. It manufactures phones in China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh and recently in India.
History
[edit]Transsion Holdings Pvt Ltd was founded as Transsion Technology in Hong Kong in 2006, with a focus on the development, manufacturing, sales, and services of mobile communication products. Transsion entered the African market with its Tecno and Itel brands, and started focusing on the African market in July 2008, initially with feature phones.[1] Transsion released its first smartphone in 2014.[2]
Transsion set up its Nigerian subsidiary in June 2008, and had subsidiaries in seven countries in Africa by October that year.[1] Transsion set up a manufacturing plant in Ethiopia in 2011.[3] Transsion entered the Indian market in 2016.[2] The market share of Transsion's smartphone brands in Africa combined surpassed that of Samsung in 2017, making Transsion the largest manufacturer of smartphones for the African market in the fourth quarter of 2017.[4][5] Transsion was also the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in Africa in the first half of 2017.[6] Transsion's 2018 attempt at a reverse takeover failed.[7] In October 2018, Transsion Holdings started producing smartphones in their new manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.[8] Transsion Holdings became a public listed company in September 2019 by listing on the STAR Market section of the Shanghai Stock Exchange.[9]
In Q2 2023, Transsion became one of the top 5 smartphone vendors in the world, shipping 22.7 million smartphones to garner 9% market share.[10]
Operations
[edit]Transsion sells mobile phones in Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.[6] It operates mobile phone brands Tecno, Itel, and Infinix, as well as after-sales support service Carlcare and accessories brand Oraimo.[4] Spice, an Indian phone brand, was acquired from Spice Global in 2017.[2] Transsion manufactures its phones in China, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.[11] Transsion was the first non-African mobile phone company to set up an after-sales support network in Africa.[3]
In 2021, Transsion held a 48.2% share of the African smartphone market.[12] Transsion's success in the African market has been attributed to tailoring its phones' features to the needs of the African market.[4] Transsion's phones offer a feature that calibrates camera exposures for darker skin tones, allowing face details to be retained. Transsion developed phones with dual SIM functionality, which were well received because African users commonly used more than one SIM card at a time to save money. Transsion released phones with long battery life, which are suited to low electrification rates in Africa and the propensity of blackouts.[1][2][4] The phones included support for multiple African languages, and Tecno was the first major mobile phone brand in Ethiopia to include support for an Amharic keyboard.[3]
Transsion manufactures inexpensive mobile phones in Ethiopia, which has been a contributing factor in Ethiopia's high rate of cell phone use.[13]: 229
Transsion's music streaming service Boomplay comes pre-installed on Transsion phones.[12] As of the middle of 2020, Boomplay had 75 million users in Africa.[12]
Apart from its successes in the African market,[14] Transsion is among the fastest growing smartphone brands in India, with a YoY growth of 40% in 2019. It was also the number one brand in the entry-level smartphone market.[15] Transsion's mobile phones are mostly entry-level to lower middle-range, and therefore not being intended for business clients.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c 韓, 江雪 (24 August 2018). "傳音手機：非洲手機市場的封王之路". PEdaily.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d "「非洲之王」传音：出海手机厂商的另类封王之路". Geekpark (in Chinese). 1 March 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ a b c 陈, 伊凡 (11 November 2018). "坚挺十多年，隐藏在非洲的中国手机巨头". PEdaily.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ a b c d Dahir, Abdi Latif (30 August 2018). "A low-profile, Chinese handset maker has taken over Africa's mobile market". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Manek, Sheila (12 March 2018). "Africa's Smartphone Market Declines Despite Strong Performance of Region's Biggest Markets". IDC. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
- ^ a b Hancock, Tom (19 November 2017). "China's Transsion dominates African mobile phone market". Financial Times.
- ^ 石, 飞月 (19 June 2018). "重组失败 传音能否"走出非洲"". Beijing Business Today (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
- ^ "深圳传音控股股份有限公司". www.transsion.com. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ "Transsion, maker of TECNO & Infinix smartphones, is now a public listed company". MobiTrends Kenya – Smartphones & Tech News. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
- ^ Chenze, Emmanuel (27 July 2023). "Transsion is now one of the world's largest smartphone vendors". Android Kenya. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ 賴, 瑩綺 (21 November 2017). "大陸隱形冠軍 傳音手機 在非洲銷量第1". China Times (in Chinese). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
- ^ a b c Garlick, Jeremy (2024). Advantage China: Agent of Change in an Era of Global Disruption. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 128. ISBN 978-1-350-25231-8.
- ^ Yan, Hairong; Sautman, Barry (2024). "China, Ethiopia and the Significance of the Belt and Road Initiative". The China Quarterly (257): 222–247.
- ^ Chenze, Emmanuel (18 May 2023). "Transsion: the making of a juggernaut". Android Kenya. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
- ^ Jain, Anshika (24 October 2019). "India Smartphone Shipments Reached a Record-High 49 Million units Defying the Economic Slowdown Trends in Other Sectors". Counterpoint Research. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
