Devices & Platforms

The Indian smartphone market rebounded 20% year-on year in Q4 to 38.9 million units on the back of strong festive season demand, with growth predicted on the back of affordable 5G devices in 2024. 

Analyst company Canalys reported that global smartphone shipments grew 8% year-on-year in Q4 2023 to 320 million units, ending seven consecutive quarters of decline. 

Smartphone sales in Vietnam reportedly took an unexpected dive in December 2023, according to tech retailers who are hoping the coming Lunar New Year season will bring sales numbers back up.

Africa’s smartphone market has shown resilience with a second consecutive quarter of strong recovery in Q3 2023, according to analysis from Canalys.

Authorized mobile phone importers in Sri Lanka have reportedly warned the government that its decision to not only raise its value added tax (VAT) next year but also apply it to mobile phones will only benefit parallel importers and make the grey market problem even worse.

Chinese smartphone vendor Realme announced it had shipped 200 million units since launching in 2018, making it the fifth largest vendor according to Counterpoint Research. 

North Korea is reportedly taking pre-orders for a newly launched smartphone called Hwawon, but details are scarce and prospective customers can only order by phone.

Analyst company Canalys reported the smartphone market is showing signs of recovery predicting a lower decline in 2023, and growth will be pushed by emerging markets next year. 

The drive to bring affordable smart connectivity to tens of millions of Africans continues, this time through a partnership involving MediaTek, Digit and pan-African operator Vodacom.

Chipset manufacturing giant Intel has reportedly shelved plans to double its operations in Vietnam, a blow to South East Asian nation’s ambitions in the chipset sector, reported Reuters. 

Underlining the growing importance of content-driven business models in African mobile communications, mobile technology company Digital Afrique Telecom (DAT) has announced a partnership with gaming and esports entertainment company Clipfeed to bring esports to mobile operators in Africa.

India’s Tata Group will soon start assembling Apple iPhones in India after Wistron Corp, an electronics manufacturer based in Taiwan, approved the sale of its Indian manufacturing unit to the Mumbai-headquartered multinational conglomerate.

East Africa Device Assembly Kenya (EADAK) Limited has opened this week. It’s Kenya’s first local smartphone assembly plant.

Smartphone shipments in mainland China saw consecutive quarterly decline with a 5% loss to a total of 66.7 million units, according to analyst company Canalys. 

Airtel Africa unveiled what it labelled as the “most affordable 4G smartphone” to be launched in Rwanda, as part of wider plans to boost connections to its network. 

According to industry body the GSMA over half (54%) of the world’s population owns a smartphone, but the rate of new mobile internet users has slowed. 

African technology group Cassava Technologies is in the news yet again, this time through a partnership with Atlas AI, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) analytics platform.

Smartphone shipments in Africa saw growth of 7.6% to a total of 19.6 million units in Q2, snapping seven quarters of continuous year-on-year decline.

Indian feature phone vendor Lava International stated ambitions to take a third of the feature phone market in India within 12 months and transform into a significant player in the budget segment.

Counterpoint Research predicted Apple will gain a larger share of the Indian smartphone market on the back of its latest iPhone 15 range launched last week. 

Philippines operator Globe Telecom partnered with insurance technology company Bolttech to launch a mobile phone trade-in programme to spur post-paid subscriber upgrades.

Smartphone shipments in Indonesia declined for the eighth quarter in a row but analyst company IDC forecast a better H2 for the market as shipments will stabilise.  

King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Development & Management Company and Orange Business, the enterprise division of Orange, have signed a deal through which Orange Business will supply a smart city platform for KAFD.

Chip manufacturer Intel revealed plans to invest US$1.2 billion into its Costa Rican business over the next two years, to fuel development in next-generation technologies.

Analyst company Canalys reported smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia fell 15% year-on-year in Q2 to 20.9 million units, the lowest total since 2014, macroeconomic conditions continue to dampen consumer confidence.

Financial Software & Systems Pvt Ltd (FSS), a provider of payments technology solutions headquartered in India, has announced the launch of BLAZE, an advanced payments technology platform designed to meet the diverse needs of banks and financial institutions.

Airtel Payments Bank, Frontier Markets and the Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth have announced the launch of She Leads Bharat:Udyam, an initiative to elevate 100,000 Indian women-owned small businesses with resources, tools and opportunities to grow and diversify their incomes.

Analyst company Canalys reported smartphone shipments in the Middle East saw 2% year-on-year growth in Q2, against the backdrop of overall shipments declining globally by 10%.

Cloudera, a data company with a focus on enterprise AI, has announced a collaboration with a leading Indian fintech platform, PhonePe.