According to IDC, a technology research group, the Shenzhen-based company, best known for its Itel brand, sells more than 50 million handsets in Africa in the first half of this year, primarily as feature phone models with physical keyboards, consolidating its position as Africa China's largest mobile phone maker, and includes 11 million smartphones to surpass Korean competitors.
According to IDC, following the fourth-largest number of handsets sold worldwide by Samsung, Apple and Huawei in China, despite the fact that low prices means that by sales it is only the first 13 major mobile phone manufacturers.
According to Counterpoint Research, a consultancy, Countertel Research's Tarun Pathak, an analyst with Counterpoint Research, has also taken an 8% share of the Indian handset market since its launch in 2016. According to Counterpoint Research, This success benefits from low prices and distribution.
Acoustic takes an unusual road to establishing a sales network in sub-Saharan Africa and is working hard to adapt low-cost handsets to local tastes, for example, its handset has multiple SIM card slots and the camera software is optimized to more Good to capture darker skin tones while speakers have enhanced bass.
Zhu Zhajiang, founder and chief executive, said sales in Africa are expected to reach 100 million units this year, helping the company realize more than $ 200 billion in revenue. "I'm not targeting the highest paying consumers who will buy Apple or Samsung products, Added.
According to Zhu Zhaogang, this year the company will export 120 million handsets to become China's largest handset exporter in terms of export volume. Although its profit margin is low due to the lower selling price (sometimes only 10 US dollars) of acoustic handsets, For competitors, 'We are bigger in number than Huawei, although they are bigger in value,' he said.
According to IDC, about 216 million handsets were sold in Africa last year, 57% of which were feature phones.
According to IDC analyst Simon Baker, the success of voice over is based on its ability to "compete with key competitors' key handsets at a more attractive price." The company has also built a platform that ensures that its handsets are widely distributed And reputation for providing marketing support. '
In Africa, he said, the brand names that accentuates include Itel, which was originally a feature phone brand and still the company's best-selling brand, as well as Tecno and Infinix, the more expensive and top-selling smartphone brands, , Acoustic phone usually retail price of about 100 US dollars.
The group is now targeting the South Asian market. "We are going out of Africa into other emerging markets," said Zhu Zhaogang. "Our future focus will be on North Africa, India and the Middle East."
He added that selling millions of handsets in India will help to make a telephony sales of about 20% of handsets outside of Africa this year, IDC said in the fourth quarter of 2016, the brand ranks second in the Indian handset market.