South Africa’s favourite smartphone brand
South Africa’s most popular smartphone brand is Samsung, according to data from Statcounter Global Stats.
Statcounter’s mobile vendor market share data for South Africa in 2021 shows that Samsung has the top spot in the country with a share of 47.6% — three times higher than that of Apple.
Huawei takes second place in South Africa with 25.4%, followed by Apple with 15.8%.
Global market shares tell a different story. Apple takes the top spot globally with 29.24%, while Samsung, Xiaomi, and Huawei have shares of 26.93%, 11.52%, and 7.19%, respectively.
Samsung’s popularity in South Africa can likely be attributed to its more affordable smartphone offerings.
Where prices for Apple’s cheaper iPhone SE smartphone starts at R9,699, Samsung has far cheaper options available.
Huawei also offers a selection of budget-friendly handsets.
However, Huawei’s newer smartphones do not have Google Mobile Services, making it difficult to compete against Samsung.
Google was forced to suspend business with Huawei in 2019 after the United States imposed stern limitations on its technology trade with China.
While Huawei’s existing devices at the time could keep their access to Google Mobile Services, the Chinese manufacturer’s new devices were denied access.
Despite these headwinds, Statcounter’s data shows that Huawei’s market share in South Africa has continued to climb.
Mobile vendor market share in South Africa. Data from: Statcounter Global Stats
While the iPhone SE offers better hardware specifications than most of Samsung’s cheaper Galaxy A handsets, lower prices tend win out in nations with high levels of unemployment like South Africa.
Samsung’s cheapest model in this range is the Galaxy A03 Core, while the one with the highest specs (and biggest price tag) is the Galaxy A52s 5G.
The Galaxy A03 Core is currently available for R1,699 from Samsung, but retailers have offered the smartphone for R999 during recent sales.
In comparison, Samsung sells the A52s 5G — which offers up to 8GB of RAM and a 6.5-inch 1080p display with a 120Hz refresh rate — for R8,999.
Several of Samsung’s Galaxy A handsets are compared in the table below.
| Samsung Galaxy A series | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Specifications | A03 Core | A02 | A12 | A22 | A32 5G | A72 | A52s 5G |
| OS | Android 11 (Go edition) | Android 10 | Android 10 | Android 11 | Android 11 | Android 11 | Android 11 |
| Display | 6.5-inch 1,600 x 720 PLS TFT | 6.5-inch 1,600 x 720 PLS IPS | 6.5-inch 1,600 x 720 PLS IPS | 6.4-inch 1,600 x 720 Super AMOLED | 6.5-inch 1,600 x 720 TFT | 6.7-inch 2,400 x 1,080 Super AMOLED | 6.5-inch 2,400 x 1,080 Super AMOLED |
| Refresh rate | 60Hz | 60Hz | 60Hz | 90Hz | 60Hz | 90Hz | 120Hz |
| Processor | Unisoc SC9863A | Mediatek MT6739W | Mediatek MT6765 Helio P35 | Mediatek MT6769V/CU Helio G80 | MediaTek MT6853 Dimensity 720 5G | Snapdragon 720G | Snapdragon 778G 5G |
| Storage | 32GB | 32GB/64GB | 32GB/64GB/128GB | 64GB/128GB | 64GB/128GB | 128GB/256GB | 128GB/256GB |
| RAM | 2GB | 2GB/3GB/4GB | 2GB/3GB/4GB/6GB | 4GB/6GB | 4GB/6GB/8GB | 6GB/8GB | 4GB/6GB/8GB |
| Rear Camera | 8MP | 13MP + 2MP | 48MP + 5MP + 2MP + 2MP | 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP | 48MP + 8MP + 8MP + 2MP | 64MP + 8MP + 12MP + 5MP | 64MP + 12 MP + 5MP + 5MP |
| Front Camera | 5MP | 5MP | 8MP | 13MP | 13MP | 32MP | 32MP |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 4.2 | Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.1 | Wi-Fi 4, Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Cellular | LTE | LTE | LTE | LTE | LTE/5G | LTE | LTE/5G |
| Biometrics | — | — | Side-mounted fingerprint scanner | Side-mounted fingerprint scanner | Side-mounted fingerprint scanner | Under-display fingerprint scanner | Under-display fingerprint scanner |
| Battery and charging | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh | 5,000mAh
15W fast charging |
5,000mAh
15W fast charging |
5,000mAh
15W fast charging |
5,000mAh
25W fast charging |
4,500mAh
40W fast charging |
| Dimensions and weight | 164.2 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm (211g) | 164 x 75.9 x 9.1 mm (206g) | 164 x 75.8 x 8.9 mm (205g) | 159.3 x 73.6 x 8.4 mm (186g) | 164.2 x 76.1 x 9.1 mm (205g) | 165 x 77.4 x 8.4 mm (203g) | 159.9 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm (189g) |
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