How Big Itel, Infinix and Tecno Actually Are

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If you live in Africa, especially in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, you should be familiar with these three phone brands Tecno, Infinix and Itel. Though these brands are also available in other markets like the United Kingdom and Mexico, they are mainly popular on the African continent. Many people tend to look down at Itel and say they prefer Tecno or Infinix because Itel is a “poor man’s phone”, but did you know that these three companies are the same? Besides phone brands, there are sister brands that you are probably familiar with that are part of this company such as Oraimo and Carlcare. These brands are all owned by one Chinese company called Transsion Holdings.

The Beginning of Transsion Holdings

Transsion Holdings is a Chinese company that specializes in smart devices and mobile internet services for emerging markets. It was founded in 2006 in Hong Kong and entered the African market with its Tecno, Infinix, and Itel brands in July 2008, initially with feature phones but they released their first smartphone in 2014. They set up their Nigerian subsidiary in June 2008 and had subsidiaries in seven countries in Africa by October of that year and set up a manufacturing plant in Ethiopia in 2011 being the first Chinese company to do so. Transsion Holdings entered the Indian market in 2016.

The Brands Transsion Holdings Owns

They own a telecommunications company in India known as Spice Digital, a subsidiary of Spice Connect which deals in mobile value-added services, telco solutions, enterprise solutions, financial technology, GST Suvidha Provider (GSP) and digital transformation products and services in India, Kenya, and South Africa.

They own the popular accessories brand Oraimo which sells accessories mainly for mobile phones such as headphones, earphones, micro-SD cards, chargers, cables, power banks, smart watches, and speakers. Besides that, Oraimo also makes accessories for PCs, cars, and home use, such as sound bars, hair trimmers, flash drives, car chargers, electric toothbrushes, mice, and keyboards.

Another brand that they own is the after-sales service brand Carlcare which mainly focuses on fixing and repairing Itel, Tecno and Infinix phones though they do fix other phone brands such as iPhones.

They also own the high-end home appliance brand Syinix, which was founded in 2015 and serves customers in more than 20 African countries including Ethiopia and Mozambique. Syinix makes electric kettles, washing machines, refrigerators, televisions and more.

They also have market share in digital media as they own Boomplay, Phoenix Browser and Scooper News which are Africa-focused services.

The Growth of Transsion Holdings

Transsion Holdings’ success in Africa is attributed to its deep understanding of the local market, its extensive distribution network, its affordable and customized products, its identification of emerging markets and its strong marketing and branding strategies. Transsion entered the Indian market in 2016 when it acquired the local phone brand Spice. Transsion also started producing smartphones in Bangladesh and has been exploring new markets in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Transsion’s strategy in these markets is to offer high-quality and affordable products and services.

The Numbers

In 2022, Transsion Holdings reported revenues of 46.6 billion Chinese Yuan (RMB) which is about $7.2 billion for 2022, down 5.7% year-on-year, but still higher than most of its rivals according to Techloy. Transsion’s net profit, however, declined by 36.5% year-on-year to RMB 2.5 billion ($390 million), mainly due to higher operating costs and lower gross margins. According to ZoomInfo, Transsion Holdings has a total of 16,232 employees.

Also in 2022, Transsion Holdings managed to sell over 156 million smartphones giving them a market share of about 11.7%, putting the company in the top ten of most popular smartphone companies among Vivo, Xiaomi, Oppo, Apple and Samsung.

Conclusion

Itel, Tecno and Infinix are not standalone brands, and they are a force to be reckoned with as they are growing gradually and becoming more popular by the day, along with their sister brands owned by Transsion Holdings. Who knows what this company will be in the next five years, we can only wait and see.

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