Macroeconomic Factors Shrinks Africa’s Smartphone Market by 18% in 2022

Africa’s smartphone market witnessed a shrink of 18%, as a result of macroeconomic factors such as Inflation, High-interest rate, and economic uncertainties that dampened consumers’ demand.

However, the smartphone shrink is not unique to Africa alone, last year, global smartphone shipments were the lowest in nearly a decade. The industry capped off another dismal year with a 17% year-over-year drop for the fourth quarter (Q4). This puts 2022 shipping figures 11% below 2021.

According to the worldwide quarterly mobile phone tracker released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), 73.4 million units were shipped to Africa, with brands such as Samsung, Itel, and Techno accounting for 65% of the shipments.

Investors King understands that in the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, vendors shipped 19.7 million smartphones across Africa, shrinking by 15.7 year-on-year. Smartphone shipments to Africa were down 7.9 quarter-on-quarter in 2022. In the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, Africa’s overall smartphone market suffered a year-on-year decline of 19% in 2022.

In Africa, Northern African countries Egypt and Tunisia experienced the greatest year-on-year declines of 63% and 33% respectively. For Egypt, the decline was a result of restrictions imposed by the government on mobile phone imports last year, as well as high gadget prices.

The country’s weakening currency as well as several macroeconomic factors are reported to have impacted its smartphone market negatively. 2023 has been predicted to be positive for its smartphone market following the government’s readiness to release all goods, including imported mobile phones that were stuck at ports.

Meanwhile, Tunisia was affected by an increase in customs tariffs and the taxes imposed on smartphones. Kenya and South Africa were the least affected, recording a 4% and 5% year-on-year decline respectively.

With the new year (2023) already running, research director with IDC Anthony Scarsella, disclosed that the global smartphone market would continue to witness a decline in consumer demand due to uncertainties. He however predicts that the global market will think of new methods to drive sales.