You are not really Ugandan if you haven’t used a TECNO device before since it is a very common sight. From a gateman, boda boda guy to a university student and even the high-end tech users that need an extra phone to co-exist with their other better devices. This is because most of their phones are affordable, accessible and have the oomph of other high-end devices at a fraction of the price. TECNO also refreshes its smartphones season in season out.
The big question everyone keeps asking, is how did TECNO become so common and a favorite for many with barely any visible presence in its country of origin, China? Shocking right! We hope to answer that today.
The company is so big not only in Uganda but other African countries as well with tts parent company, Transsion even going public recently at a valuation of $3.95B, on top of being listed among the top 100 companies in Africa
TECNO saw an opportunity and it seized it
TECNO as a brand broke into the smartphone market from an opportunistic point of view since the main market players at that point Samsung, Nokia and Apple that actually ignored the potential of the African market with growth prospects, partly due to the bias against the tech-savviness of Africans. TECNO saw Africa as an opportunity to run away from great competition they faced in China, to Africa where the users needed affordable yet functional products. They then employed the low price to product quality ratio, offering devices that are made of cheap hardware, for example, the Mediatek processors are not that powerful compared to the Snapdragon or Exynos but can actually do the job anyway.
Giving people what they want not what it wants
TECNO uses the principle of every device to its users based on either price or specification preferences. They are designed on what the user wants and if it’s the iPhone X like Notch that is trending then its the notch they are putting on their new phones albeit at a lower price point. They are an international brand that has tailored its focus to providing devices that meet the local needs of African users. It has large battery capacity phones because of the poor electricity in most African countries Uganda included, these phones basically conform to the needs of the people that can afford them. Also, their marketing and distribution is well spread all across the country with a superb delivery root system where the newly released phones reach different parts of the country, very fast through the different retail outlets.
A smartphone for every user
TECNO, Infinix, and iTel have been the most bought phone brands on the continent and all this can be attributed to the way these brands have understood the market and tried to solve the digital divide in the continent. TECNO has a phone for the camera lovers (Camon Series), a phone for long battery lovers (the Pouvoir series), a phone for the design lovers (the Spark Series) and phone for the high-end users (the Phantom series). Their products have been mapped to include everyone, TECNO has a phone for everyone.
They have maintained their dominance in a market that has seen the entrance of other brands like Xiaomi, Fero by being at the top of their game. Others like Huawei have exited it but TECNO stands to this day.
Think globally but act locally
Ugandans are now familiar with the brand and are starting to associate with it albeit its weaknesses like quick value depreciation but improvements on their side can’t be ignored amid competition from the likes of Samsung and Xiaomi.
Next steps?
The question now remains, will TECNO still be the dominant brand in Uganda in the next five years to come, with all the brand interest Africa has attracted in the past three years?
