December 19, 2022 (MLN): While Chinese smartphone brand Tecno is still pouring plenty of resources and attention into maintaining its lead in Africa, in recent years the brand has ventured to other emerging markets such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East, a per forbes reported.
At present, the span of Tecno’s sell is around 70 markets.
To note, the company has been selling smartphones in Africa since 2006, and its nearly 20% market share in the continent makes it Africa’s top phone brand.
In fact, Tecno was recently named the number six most admired brand in Africa (regardless of industry) by the publication African Business.
It is pertinent to mention that Tecno has avoided developed, traditionally wealthy markets such as North America, Europe, and East Asia, in favor of developing markets.
The company’s general manager Jack Guo essentially admitted the move was to avoid major competition and win over under-developed markets, Forbes further reported.
“When we first ventured into the smartphone business, we visited over 90 countries and analyzed the market,” he added.
He further stated that most of the brands were focusing on China and Europe. But there was a whole region with a large population and low phone penetration rate.
Selling in Africa and other developing markets meant, of course, selling budget phones. And that was the impression I had when I tested my first Tecno device two years ago, he said.
I thought the phone was fine for an entry-level handset, but it was clearly a budget phone not meant to push any industry standards.
“Little did I know that behind the scenes, Tecno had already been working to aim higher,” he revealed.
