5G Smartphone Sales Tipped to Grow in Kenya

Phone manufacturer, realme, has joined the global league of selling phone markers for the first time, this is according to the latest report by global research firm – Counterpoint.

Furthermore, a focus on young mobile phone users-accounting for the largest share of Kenya’s population, a wide and strong multichannel strategy has helped realme to grow the fastest over the period under review. The company has maintained the faster growth for the third quarter in a row since the beginning of 2021.

The youngest of the top six global brands is now dominating the world’s 5G smartphone space with 165% year on year growth in unit shipments in the fourth quarter of 2021, across 20 global markets including Africa.

And while the performance was driven by Western European countries such as the UK, Italy, Spain, France and Switzerland, realme sees faster growth in Kenya and Across Africa, this year as these markets prepare for mass roll out 5G in 2022.

“We see our focus and commitment to meeting dynamic needs of Young and tech-savvy youths in Kenya, yielding better results in the country,” said realme Founder and CEO Sky Li.

The latest ranking, Li said has enhanced realme’s position as an industry leader in democratizing 5G.

“This reinforces our dedication to work towards our ambition of becoming the Democratizer of 5G. As an emerging tech brand, realme has always been committed to encouraging young users worldwide to experience the latest technology like 5G and will continue to deliver appealing and future-ready devices to global fans” said Li.

The global research firm ranked realme among brands with quarterly 5G shipments of 5 million units or more in Q4 2021- considered major 5G brands.

Since 2020, realme has been offering a broader 5G portfolio, having grown from just two 5G smartphones at the beginning of 2020 to 15 at the beginning of 2021 and well over double of that by Q4 2021.

To further the focus on popularizing 5G-enabled smartphones, realme has lowered the average selling price (ASP)of its Number Series 5G devices from 270USD in Q1 2020 to under 200USD (9 5G) in Q1 2022, while simultaneously offering more advanced 5G smartphone options in premium flagship GT Series to meet more users’ needs.

Already, realme 9i, the newest model in the number series launched in the market earlier at the beginning of 2022 is recording high sales. It is one of the first phones in Kenya to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 chipset.