Tecno, the mobile phone brand by company Tecno Mobile, is expanding into the Southern Africa nation of Zimbabwe. Tecno is already a household name in several other African countries including Kenya and Nigeria where it has amassed significant market share and upset the status quo thanks to its devices which speak directly to the hearts and minds of budget-conscious buyers.
Tecno’s entry into the Zimbabwean market means that it has taken the war directly to rival GTel’s doorsteps. GTel is one of the leading mobile phone brands in Zimbabwe. In the recent past, GTel has been expanding into several markets that are key to Tecno Mobile like Kenya.
According to Zimbabwean technology website TechZim, Tecno will be entering the Zimbabwean market this October with a small product range comprising feature phones like the Tecno T347 and T348 and entry-level Android devices in the Y, J and C series like the Tecno Y3, Y4, Y6, J5 and C5. The company is expected to gradually expand its product portfolio to include more devices.
Tecno Mobile, seen by many as the Xiaomi of Africa, is originally a Chinese company that has focussed explicitly on designing and releasing products just for the African market and has built quite a reputation doing that and gained lots of valuable experience while at it. Its expansion into Zimbabwe is part of its broader mission to conquer the African mobile phone market more so after its successes in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and several other African nations.
With the sort of disruption that Tecno has brought in Nigeria and Kenya in the low-end and mid-range segments of the smartphone market and the expansive feature phone market, Tecno’s expansion into Zimbabwe is likely to lead to some upsets among the established players.
It is worth noting that Tecno Mobile’s ambition has since transcended the budget-conscious buyer and the company is targeting the upper mid-range and premium segment with devices like the newly unveiled Phantom 5 and even diversifying its product range with devices like the WinPad 10 tablet which is a huge fan favourite here at Techweez based on our own engagement statistics.
