Africa - The Tecno Continent
Transsion, makers of Tecno, Itel and Infinix, is now worth $4 billion. The company commands 64% of feature phone market in Africa, with Nokia following them as a distant runner-up with 10%, writes Maro Elias. The success of Tecno tells me that nothing is impossible in any sector (banking, fintech, etc) once an entrepreneur has the right strategy and executes well.
Maro notes some critical factors that made Africa a Tecno continent; design, empathy, dual slim and pricing. Malo notes:
“To achieve the right pricing, Transsion has to be focused on making sure that their phones don't carry specs that are not necessary, and since they understand their market, it hasn't been difficult to do.”
That line comes back to Minimum Viable Quality as noted in Week 1 of Tekedia mini-MBA where I noted that quality without the constructs of price makes no sense. Tecno went with Mediatek chipsets instead of the more expensive and better Snapdragon, and today is the category-king. In a few weeks, I will be examining Tecno in a flash case; Malo's piece makes it easier.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.