Transsion Holdings: While Others Crowded into Established Markets, It Went Deep into Africa

Transsion Holdings—the king of mobile phones in Africa In the first half of 2024, Transsion Holdings generated revenue of RMB34.558 billion and net profit attributable to the parent of RMB2.852 billion, up 38.07% and 35.70% year over year, respectively. On the distant African continent, a battle for the mobile phone market is quietly unfolding. With its distinctive strategy and sharp market insight, Transsion Holdings is writing its own remarkable story. Transsion’s first-mover advantage has given it a foothold, but it cannot rest easy. More competitors are now joining the contest across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In September 2024, Lei Jun attended the China–Africa entrepreneurs’ conference and said Xiaomi would increase its investment in Africa. He specifically noted that, in the second quarter of that year, Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments in Africa had grown 45% year over year, giving it about 12% of the market and third place. ----- Robin: ‘Chinese manufacturers keep expanding around the world. Their ambitions have long extended beyond developed markets such as Europe, the United States, and Japan. They have spent years building a presence in Africa and Latin America, and competition in those emerging markets continues to intensify. I have always found Transsion’s development remarkable and inspiring. While everyone else was battling over the markets they could already see, Transsion took a different route and went deep into Africa. Its numbers are not bad either: RMB34.55 billion in revenue and RMB2.85 billion in after-tax net profit in the first half of 2024.’