Smartphone is becoming very popular in South Africa, available data suggests that South Africa’s smartphone penetration has nearly doubled in the last two years and is now sitting at over 80%.
According to the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa’s (ICASA’s) new report, SA’s smartphone penetration was 81.72% as at the end of September 2018, compared to 43.5% in September 2016 and 74.2% in September 2017.
ICASA recorded smartphone subscriptions at 46.9 million as at 30 September 2018. Given these stats on the use of phone in South Africa, this article reviews the best brands of android phones in South Africa based on their market share.
Best Smartphone Brands in South Africa
1. Samsung
The number one smartphone on our list is Samsung mobile. According to data from statcounter, Samsung mobile has the largest market share, with an average of 44.96 percent from Dec 2018 to Dec 2019. In fact, in December, there market share was estimated to be 44.03 percent.
2. Huawei
Although the Huawei is below Samsung, with an average of 23.59 percent, data shows that there was an upward trend in the market share of this phone. The market share of this phone increased from October 2019 to December 2019.
3. Apple
According to QuotesAdvisor.com analysis of its website traffic, in terms of phones that visit the website, it was discovered that from a total of 13, 025 smartphones, 24 percent are an apple phone. Although the android brand has a market share average of 14.75 percent, there was a decline in the phones market share in December 2019, when compared to December 2018.
4. Nokia
The large players in the market are obviously the trio of Samsung, Huawei, and Apple. The fourth best android phone on our list according to its market share is Nokia.
This smartphone has an average market share of 2.68 percent from Dec 2018 to Dec 2019. According to data from statcounter, the market share of Nokia has been relatively stable.
5. LG
According to statcounter, the market share of LG from Dec 2018 to Dec 2019 has been stable, with an average market share of 1.89 percent. As at December 2019, the market share of LG was estimated to be 1.48 percent.
6. Vodafone
The average market share of Vodafone according to statcounter is 1.87 percent. The trend of the market share indicate that there was a decline in the market share of Vodafone between the period of December 2018 to December 2019. In December 2019, the market share was 1.37 percent, compared to 2.32 in December 2018.
7. Sony
Sony’s market share in December 2019 has decreased compared to it’s market share in December 2018. The market share in December 2018, was 2.32 percent compared to 1.44 percent in December 2019. The average market share between December 2018 and 2019 stood at 1.87 percent.
8. Hisense
Statistics conducted by MTN and Vodacom show that the Hisense U961 is the most widely used phone in South Africa. The Hisense according to statcounter shows that the average market share of this smartphone stood at 1.66 percent.
There has been a slight decrease in the market share of this brand. In December 2018, the market share was estimated to be 1.76 percent, while in 2019, the market share was estimated to be 1.2 percent.
9. Xiaomi
The market share of Xiaomi in December 2019, compared to 2018 also decreased. The average market share stood at 0.78 percent.
The market share in December 2019 was 0.81 percent compared to 0.81 percent. Thus the data suggests that market share of Xiaomi is stable, although it is low compared to other brands.
10. Mobicel
According to the research conducted by MTN and Vodacom, it was discovered that Mobicel Astro and Mobicel Rebel were one of the most used phone in South Africa, coming second to Hisense U961.
According to statcounter, Mobicel had an average market share of 0.31 percent, and 0.27 percent market share in December 2019.
