Transsion Holdings: A Technology Company You Can't Possibly Run Away From In Africa.

 

A Peep Into The Origins.

This mobile technology company was founded in July 2006 by a Chinese businessman, George Zhu, this company was inspired by what he observed from his travels as the need to penetrate emerging mobile technology markets. This observation came to fruition when he founded a mobile phone company under the name Tecno Telecom Limited.

Though during the earliest years of this company, their main focus was focused around South Asia, advancements in technology in the African continent made this company venture into the African mobile phone markets.


Brief overview of Transsion Holdings and its impact on the African mobile market.

Coming into the African mobile phone market, they studied the economic situation of African countries and their behavioural patterns and saw that the growing demand for phones met with an obstacle – affordability. Furthermore, they also noticed that most Africans owned more than one SIM card which made them start the production of dual SIM cards phones. This new innovation made more Africans switch to Tecno and Itel mobile phones.


By 2008, Transsion Holdings had already gotten a strong hold of the African mobile phone market and stopped major sales in Asia just to focus on the rapidly growing African market, with a strong foothold in Nigeria.

The need to effectively serve this new found market in the area of customer's service promoted the creation of a subsidiary; Calcare, in 2009. Calcare was launched to cater for issues encountered after the purchase of any of their products.

One way this mobile phone company has impacted Africa positively was in setting up a factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, making it the very first phone manufacturing company to have a factory in the African continent.


With the rapid adoption of smartphones by youths in Africa and the increase in demand for internet connectivity, Infinix, their third phone brand was released as a smartphone.

An Overview of The Three Brands Under Transsion Holdings: Tecno, Infinix, and Itel.

Tecno: Redefining Mid-Range Mobility.

Currently, Transsion Holdings manufactures three different phone brands, (this is of course known as ‘pseudo competition’.) Apart from giving them a financial leverage and placing them ahead of most competitors, this introduction of three different phone brands has immensely benefited Africans as people can have the choice of choosing what they want depending on their preference and or financial level.

Tecno Mobile, the very first of Transsion Holdings phones is regarded as the high-end brand when making a comparison between Transsion Holdings' phones. This is due to the fact that it comes with some more premium features and often is more expensive than the rest.

Though it is worth knowing that there are still Tecno phones that are pretty affordable, but they come with very limiting features. It is also worth knowing that all of Transsion Holdings phones aren't high-end phones, that category is left for Companies like Samsung, Apple and Pixel.

These phones, despite being from the same parent company still have distinguishing features that tells them apart, in the case of Tecno, some of these features are the design build, earlier models of Tecno smartphones had their cameras at the upper centre of the phone, gradually, with the introduction of fingerprint scanners, these camera lens shifted to the left which is where most phones have their cameras and also with the spread of different models like the Spark, the Pop, and the Common models, each phone's camera lens position was narrowed down to fit the specific model it is. For instance, the Spark model had vertical camera positioning with the number of cameras increasing with the advancements. The Pop model had concentrated iPhone-like camera lens position.

In recent times, we've seen a change in the way these lenses are positioned as they're now bigger and tend to occupy most of the back.

Another distinguishable feature of Tecno smartphones, especially in newer ones is the introduction of glass backs and inadvertently fast charging capabilities.

Tecno's camera quality is also superb, though it is determinant on the price.

Another standout feature of Tecno is the battery. This has become more like a signature of every product made by Transsion Holdings, their battery life is always something you can count on, but so far, Tecno beats the rest in battery life with the Tecno Pova 3 coming with a battery capacity of 7000 mAh which is undeniably a very big battery.


=> Customers' Experience.

From data gathered from users, Tecno is a top-notch phone. With less lagging complaints and ability to do average multitasking. It also comes out best with gaming due to the level of RAM and GPU used to build it.

It actually does well and deserves the name it has made for itself, obviously, in Africa, it is everywhere, and for a mid range device, it is recommended, for those who are seeking mid range phones with a taste for better quality.

Like any technology or product that has ever been made, more improvement still needs to be done when it comes tecno devices, especially in the case of bloatwares and some other features (which we may discuss later)

Infinix: A Device Made For The Youths And Smartphone Users.

This brand of smartphone was introduced in 2012 as a smartphone, unlike Tecno and Itel, it was never made into a feature phone, nor was it made for non smartphone users and it has kept with that reputation. Little wonder, it's usually the first to adopt any smartphone new technology suitable for its level as a midrange budget friendly device.


A phone made with the youths in mind, it comes with features and build that resonates with the youths.


Just like Tecno, Infinix also has different models, with the three of them being the Note series, Smart series and the Hot series. These series come with different designs and builds with the Smart series having a slightly better camera quality than the rest.


Since Infinix was made with active internet and phone users in mind, it's no doubt it's one of the best affordable phones one can get.


Another notable feature of Infinix when compared with the rest of Transsion Holdings phones, it comes out as the one that is generally lighter, another validation that it was made for the Youths in mind – to cater for their active mobility with less burden.


=> Customers' Experience.

Having interviewed some Smartphone users who have used Infinix, it came out that Infinix has quite a number of positive reviews and this can also be seen from positive comments gathered from their social media platforms.


In the area of performance and CPU's clock speed, Infinix stands out, this is why lagging is a very uncommon complaint among Infinix users.


In relation to competitors, Infinix is a top name and decently recommendable.


If you are looking for a smartphone that has good internet connectivity and you want to enjoy a good browsing experience and has an all-round good quality, yet, still pocket friendly, Infinix should be your go-to device. They win in that area and are still winning.

Like any technology or product that has ever been made, more improvement still needs to be done when it comes infinix mobile phones, especially in the case of bloatwares and some other features (which we may discuss later)

Itel: Bringing Mobile Phones to the Budget-Conscious.

The name Itel rings affordability and that's exactly what Transsion Holdings wants it to be. A phone made exclusively for those who are budget conscious yet can show off their smart devices. Everyone deserves a good phone and to get hold of the African market, a continent with a huge amount of low income earners they had to keep Itel on that level. A level that ensures that people can own phones, yet with little money

The brand comes with a few downsides, first is, it is a low features packed range, especially interior and functionality wise, but the exterior is always appealing.

Some of the downsides that almost anyone with basic phone knowledge can quickly notice about Itel phones are low camera, RAM and storage, but the battery remains strong.

There are three series of Itel – The S series, the P series and the A series. (as at when this was published)

These three different series of Itel smartphones have very core distinctions.

Below are the series with their distinctions:

A series: Target those who just want a smartphone for normal phone usage. The A series are the average end of the Itel smartphones. All its features are average.

P series: These sets of phones target those who perform power consuming tasks on their phones and still want an affordable phone. The ‘P’ can be said to represent Power.

S series: The higher end of Itel smartphones. Targets those who want some sort of style and better camera quality which comes with larger storage space. The ‘S’ can be said to stand for Selfie or Style or both as these series have superior cameras compared to the previous two.


=> Customers' Experience.

Speaking of meeting the needs of budget conscious people, Itel has indeed done a great job and are constantly releasing new phones with awesome features, a step up in their game, every single time.

Though, there have been complaints about the phone's performance, it's quite unnecessary to criticise a phone that was made for low income earners whose budget won't allow for flagship phones.

Using the phone for basic tasks and minimal operations, the phone works well, especially if you constantly optimise it as they come with inbuilt optimising softwares. But, if you use the phones for high tasking operations, then you should get ready for constant lagging experience.

If you're interested in a budget friendly device for basic tasks, then Itel should be your choice, especially the S series.

Like any technology or product that has ever been made, more improvement still needs to be done when it comes itel phones, especially in the case of bloatwares and some other features such as adding blacklist/whitelist functions to their feature phones.

General Comparative Analysis and Possible Improvements Suggestion.

A side by side evaluation of Tecno, Infinix, and Itel shows that while each of these brands have different customer avatar, just like every phone brand in the market, they come with their specific strengths and weaknesses.

While Tecno and Infinix can be described as both high-end devices of their kind and does exceptionally well in giving their customers quality features in photography, exterior designs and performances, they still need to improve, though this might come at an additional cost for consumers which from historic analysis seems not to be the goal of Transsion Holdings, but the need to do more with mobile technology means that sooner than later, advancements will be made in these smartphones, making them exclusive and out of reach for the average earners

However, Itel, being the most affordable smartphone is really doing well with their focus on affordability and essential features, making it a budget-friendly solution for those seeking value for money.

Overall Recommendation:

Transsion Holdings has indeed gotten hold of the African mobile phone market, if you're looking for any phone under Transsion Holdings, your personal preference should be a major determinant factor as there's provision for all types of choices.



In conclusion, Transsion Holdings had over the years remained focused and committed to serving Africa with new updates on their products, including the very popular Oraimo, a phone accessories brand known for quality phone accessories which is still owned by Transsion Holdings.

You truly can't possibly run away from this technology company, they've dominated most aspect of the tech market, and that includes tech powered entertainment platforms, (streaming platforms). Fintech platform, and so much more. ( we may do a different article on that subject later).

This company has done pseudo marketing very well and has gained a place in the hearts of  Africans.

While giving us quality, they gave us choices through diversity. Do they deserve the market the HYPE? They indeed do deserve all of it.