Chinese smartphone brands have been major, if not dominant, players in the global smartphone scene (with the exception of North America) for half a decade. While anyone who follows mobile phones remotely has heard of Huawei and Xiaomi, there is another Chinese brand that is almost unknown in the West and even has an obscure name in its own country that is much stronger in its target market. .
That would be Shenzhen-headquartered Tecno, which has been selling smartphones in Africa since 2006 and is the leading mobile brand in Africa with around 20% market share on the continent. In fact, Tecno was recently named the sixth most popular brand in Africa (regardless of industry) by Business Africa.
While Tecno continues to devote significant resources and attention to maintaining its leadership in Africa, in recent years the brand has expanded into other emerging markets such as Latin America, Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East. Currently, Tecno sells phones in more than 70 markets.
The pattern is not hard to see: Tecno eschewed the affluent and developed traditional markets of North America, Europe, and East Asia in favor of emerging markets.
The general manager of the company, Jack Guo, basically admitted that the move was made to avoid strong competition and conquer undeveloped markets.
Guo, who has been with Tecno since 2013, said, “When we first entered the smartphone business, we visited more than 90 countries and analyzed the market. But there are entire areas with large populations and low telephone penetration. We decided to pay attention to it."
Selling in Africa and other emerging markets naturally means selling cheap phones. That's the impression I got when I tested my first Tecno device two years ago. I think this phone is great for an entry-level phone, but it's definitely a cheap phone that isn't meant to set industry standards. Little did he know that Tecno was already working behind the scenes to achieve a higher goal.
The company launched its first flagship phones, the Phantom X2 and X2 Pro, in Dubai this week. This is the most expensive Tecno phone with a max price of around US$900.
In fact, the Phantom X2 series was lavishly launched in Dubai last week, indicating that Tecno is moving towards a more affluent market. Now we are not talking about the US or Japan, but about countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Middle East is an attractive market for Tecno because consumers in the region have greater purchasing power than consumers in, say, Nigeria or the Philippines, but it is also a region free of the bureaucracy and geopolitical controls that make access to Western markets difficult. . . Like in US or UK. The region also has huge growth potential as a recent Middle East report by research firm Canalyst predicts double-digit smartphone growth by 2023.
Lori Bai, vice president of Tecno, said the Phantom X2 Pro's feature, a retractable portrait lens, has been two years in the making. As a result, the company has invested part of its profits in research and development over the years. However, the company does not want to mention the exact amount.
A retractable camera technique in which the camera lens physically protrudes from the body of the phone. This expanded housing gives the optics more room to capture and process image data, creating more natural subject-to-background shots.
I tested the phone and the portrait lens actually works. This combined with Tecno's flagship chip and Tecno's decision to equip the phone with Samsung's flagship GN5 sensor gives the Phantom X2 Pro the most powerful hardware of any Tecno phone to date. It definitely looks and feels premium.
But as any marketing guru will tell you, creating a great product is only half the battle. You still need to sell it to consumers and convince them of the authenticity of the product and brand. The launch event in Dubai helped. This also applies to cooperation with well-known partners such as Google, Intel and Microsoft. During the event, regional representatives from each brand appeared on the stage. Gone are the days when Tecno phones were released with questionable firmware. This time around, the Phantom X2 Pro has the full blessing of Google, which guarantees three years of software support.
Tecno's second laptop was also unveiled at the launch event in Dubai. Like nearly every other mobile brand, Tecno understands that building a connected ecosystem can drive sustainable growth, and to that end, the company has launched wireless headsets, routers, smartwatches, and webcams over the last two years. Their standards of quality vary, but one thing remains constant: their prices are very affordable.
Tecno relies on the Phantom X2 series and its diverse product portfolio to win over consumers and the market. But while Tecno will continue to build flagship phones in the future, Guo said emerging markets will remain the company's top priority. Proving its popularity from Nigeria to Ethiopia to Indonesia, affordable entry-level phones will remain the company's flagship for the foreseeable future.
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