Samsung tops Africa’s smartphone market for the first time
Samsung Electronics has become the top smartphone vendor in Africa for the first time since entering the market in 1995, according to market research firm TechInsights.
Samsung ranked first by revenue in Africa’s smartphone market in the first quarter of 2026, then led in both revenue and unit sales in the second quarter. While total smartphone sales in Africa fell 16.6% year on year in the second quarter, Samsung’s unit sales rose 34.8%.
For the full year, TechInsights expects Samsung to rank first in both measures, with a 34.5% share of sales value and a 38.7% share of unit volume. That would be an increase of more than 16 percentage points in unit share in two years, from 22.4% in 2024 and 26.5% in 2025.
The company credits much of the growth to an instalment model that lets customers pay for phones in daily or weekly amounts. In 2026, 46% of Samsung’s smartphone revenue in Africa came through these plans.
Africa remains one of the world’s most price-sensitive smartphone markets, dominated by low-cost devices priced at about US$100. According to Samsung, monthly incomes in the region typically range from US$100 to US$500, while its popular Galaxy A series phones cost about US$200. Many people earn daily or weekly wages, which makes it hard to save for a phone upfront.
As upfront costs have fallen, sales of higher-end devices have also grown. Samsung’s sales of its Galaxy S and Z series in Africa rose 20% year on year in 2026.
Security as a selling point
Rather than competing on price, Samsung says it has focused on phones that users can trust for the long term.
That matters in a market where the phone often doubles as a wallet and a bank. According to the GSMA, mobile money transactions in sub-Saharan Africa totalled US$1.4 trillion last year, about two-thirds of global transaction value. For many adults, mobile money is their only financial account, and mobile money fraud is one of the region’s most common forms of cybercrime.
Samsung’s Galaxy A series offers up to seven years of operating system and security updates, along with its Knox security platform. The company has also expanded its local service network to 281 locations across 38 countries.
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