South Africa remains most developed telecoms market in Africa

At the beginning of the year, Hootsuite and We Are Social released their seventh annual global digital report, which revealed that Internet usage on the African continent was at its peak, together with affordable digital technology.

With a rise in the introduction of affordable smartphone technology, South Africa maintained its position as the continent’s most developed telecommunications market, with smartphone shipments up by 17.4 percent year-on-year in Q2; a total of 3.4 million units, a recent study by International Data Corporation (IDC) revealed.

The transition from feature phones to smartphones is reflected by the fact that the market continues to be dominated by low end to mid range devices priced below $150.

To this, Nigeria also saw a significant improvement in the performance of its overall mobile phone markets, posting a 13 percent year-on-year growth, making South Africa and Nigeria the continent’s two biggest telecommunications markets.

Owing to this is the growing popularity of low end to mid range devices.

“Numerous new entrants into the South African market are now offering affordable smartphones that boast very similar features to the leading brands,” says Arnold Ponela, Research analyst at IDC.

“We expect the country’s migration away from feature phones to continue at a progressive pace. The transition from feature phones to smartphones is reflected by the fact that the market continues to be dominated by low end to mid range devices priced below $150.”

Looking forward, IDC expects Africa’s overall mobile phone market to grow 2.6 percent quarter-on-quarter in Q3 of this year, with overall shipments to increase slightly through 2018, leading to year-on-year growth of 0.4 percent.