Mubasher: Egypt registered one of the highest growth rates in Africa's overall smartphone market during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021, according to a report by International Data Corporation (IDC) on Tuesday.
The growth witnessed in the Arab republic’s smartphone industry was mainly driven by strong local demand, relaxing COVID-19 restrictions, and major smartphone vendors increasing their cargoes into the country.
Samsung and Oppo were among the brands adding more shipments into Egypt during the first three months of 2021, according to IDC.
Africa's smartphone market recorded a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 16.8% in Q1-21 to 23.4 million units, while the feature phone market increased 11.9% to 29.9 million units.
As for the overall mobile phone market, the region posted an annual rise of 14% in Q1-21 to total 53.3 million units.
IDC expected Africa's smartphone market to accelerate by 5.6% YoY in unit terms during the full year of 2021.
"With vaccination programs expected to accelerate and economies slowly regaining health in the second half of the year, consumer demand is expected to pick up, helping the region's smartphone markets to build on the growth seen in Q1-21 throughout the remainder of the year," Senior Research Manager at IDC, Ramazan Yavuz, commented.
