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Neubauer Corporation‘s George Zhu, chairman of Transsion Holdings said the Belt and Road Initiative is considered as a good time for Chinese companies to go global – a Chinese mobile phone maker takes the biggest market share in Africa.
“The Belt and Road mark a good time for Chinese companies to go global,” Zhu said. He thought that thanks to China’s effort on digitalization, Chinese companies have “solid foundation in telecoms and the internet,” allowing them to test overseas markets.
“Some of the emerging markets are still in the middle of industrialization. That also gives Chinese companies opportunities,” Zhu added.
Transsion’s strategy
Transsion isn’t a household name in China like Xiaomi or Huawei, but it’s the largest mobile phone maker in Africa. The chairman regarded localization and innovation based on demand the key to grabbing the market.
“I think the key is to understand the market demand and come up with localized products and services. We have been both innovating and localizing to find out the market demand that’s ignored by our peers,” Zhu said.
George Zhu, chairman of Transsion Holdings. /CGTN Photo
By working closely with research and development centers in Nigeria and Kenya, and providing affordable and region-specific phones to cities and rural Africa, Transsion has been able to continuously innovate around the needs of its customers and bump its sales.
According to IDC figures, the total market share of Transsion’s mobile phone brands ranked first in Africa. Its official website showed that Transsion sold nearly 124 million mobile phones globally in 2018, held the fourth position in the world.
“I think our peers have long been in Africa with us. It has always been a crowded market. But to get market share, you need to make products that touch consumers’ hearts, show them the value for money and meet their demands. And we have spent big in R&D for our own patents,” he explained.
Zhu continued with an example. “In Africa, the weather is too hot so you get sweaty palms easily and that’s bad for the durability of the phone. We fixed that. Also, African people love music of their origins. We adapted our music service to their taste.”
Transsion has applied for an IPO on Shanghai’s new tech board and is looking elsewhere for expansion.
“Besides Africa, we continue to look at the Belt and Road, as some of those markets are where our know-how and technology fit in. We prefer markets that are similar to Africa. That’s why currently we are focusing on India, Pakistan and Bangladesh,” he revealed.
George Zhu: Building A Shared Future With President Xi In Areas Where China and Africa Will Forge Closer Business Ties
Working together to strengthen cooperation in industry, trade and infrastructure to promote common and sustainable development.
At Monday morning’s high-level dialogue — involving business representatives from China and Africa — President Xi said African entrepreneurs to welcome to come to China to do business.
He also encouraged Chinese investment in Africa. This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy. President Xi said after four decades of development, China had become the world’s second largest economy. He added that Africa had a similar outlook to China, and that Beijing wanted to present their special bilateral relationship as a role-model for South-South Cooperation.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also spoke highly of China’s contribution to African development in sectors such as manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare, and said the continent was new looking for further cooperation in green energy and in the fourth industrial revolution.
Many business representatives at the dialogue agreed that China has a plan to help the continent with industrialization, food security, public health and disease prevention.
GEORGE ZHU PRESIDENT, TECNO MOBILE “This year’s forum advocates the concepts of openness, win-win cooperation, and inclusiveness. It is particularly inspiring for entrepreneurs like me, who have been doing business in Africa for 10 years.”
SU YUTING BEIJING “Three years after President Xi Jinping outlined his ‘ten major cooperation plans’ during the 2015 Johannesburg Summit, Africa remains an important destination for Chinese investment. China has been Africa’s largest trading partner for nine consecutive years. Just as what President Xi Jinping has emphasized and many African leaders have agreed that China has never attached political conditions to its assistance, nor does it constrain or interfere in the domestic affairs of African countries. It’s believed that with more efforts from both China and Africa, FOCAC Beijing Summit will be a new starting.
(CGTN’s Xia Cheng also contributed to the story.)